By OkayGoal 
For this example, we are focusing on wingers.
But you can also put the defence, goalkeeper, and even the strikers in that category above as well, which is even more ridiculous.
Pablo Espinosa San Mauroc, who contributes for Radio Marca and Diario AS in Spain, posted on his X account last night whilst watching the Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich game in the Champions League.
He was watching Michael Olise ball out for Bayern once again and of course, we as Chelsea fans know fully well that he is a player that we should have signed when we had a really good chance to. We came VERY close, but fumbled it.
Pablo posted on his X account last night:
“Instead of Olise, Chelsea ended up signing Pedro Neto (who still seemed like a good signing to me), Joao Félix, and Jadon Sancho. The following summer, Alejandro Garnacho and Jaime Gittens arrived.
“In total, they cost 220 million. Olise, 54M. No matter how high a salary the Frenchman demanded, this is the perfect example to highlight that Chelsea’s strategy, so focused on signing young players with low salaries, is sometimes simply ridiculous.”
And it’s true, whether you agree with the wage structure or not, and many do (I see why), this above to me is just a fact. Top players command top wages, it’s just how it is. Just look at the situation with Enzo Fernandez, he’s a top player who will command a top wage. It’s just how the game is. Can you win things without paying the top wages? Yes, we have won things already. But can you have sustained success without paying the top wages? Only time will tell if this changes but right now, that answer is no. Can you successfully run a football club by paying top wages and not having a strict wage structure that Chelsea have? Of course you can…. But there are so many financial restrictions so this is why I say that I do understand the wage limits we have in place. But it’s a tough balancing act and right now, we are just not balancing it.
Also, keeping players happy when we aren’t having sustained success when other clubs come in and start offering them bigger wages, is a REAL problem that will prove to be impossible.
That example above is something I don’t think can be argued. The winger recruitment has been a HUGE failure so far for this lot. Just because we don’t pay big wages, doesn’t mean we couldn’t have signed better wingers in general.