Chelsea’s transfer policy has been a topic of huge debate in the Transfer Tavern over the last few weeks. After a slow start to the window, frustration was clear amongst fans, and Antonio Conte didn’t appear very happy for a while either.

In stark contrast, at clubs like Man Utd and Man City, optimism has been sky high. Man Utd managed to land Alexis Sanchez in what was undoubtedly the biggest transfer of the month, whilst the capture of Aymeric Laporte was a dream deal for our resident Citizens. Undoubtedly, both of these clubs had magnificent windows, and the management of each team deserves a lot of credit.

However, over the last few days, things have all turned around for the Blues. They’ve managed to pick up a few new players whilst also making a few other smart decisions, and now – with the transfer window officially closed – the Blues are looking in pretty good shape.

You could, of course, argue that Man Utd and Man City’s windows – as is the media narrative – were magnificent, but our landlord feels confident in saying that Chelsea, in fact, had the best January window in the Premier League.

Here are TWO reasons why…

 Filled Key Gaps

Man Utd’s capture of Alexis Sanchez was big, whilst the signing of Laporte has generated excitement – but was either player really completely necessary? Man Utd’s attack is filled with quality, and the likes of Marcus Rashford and even Henrikh Mkhitaryan have looked pretty good for much of the season. Likewise, Man City’s goal difference is the best in the Premier League – so defensive reinforcements weren’t exactly a priority for the club.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have made sure to improve areas that they desperately needed to make better.

At left-back, for example, the signing of Emerson Palmieri was essential. Marcos Alonso has been forced to play pretty much every game so far this season, and that’s not practical long-term.

Likewise, the signing of Olivier Giroud gives Antonio Conte another option going forward, and given that Michy Batshuayi needs game time, his loan to Borussia Dortmund couldn’t have come at a better time.

The pieces all fell into place for Chelsea, and whilst it wasn’t always smooth, everything worked out.

 Key Players Retained

It was impossible to ignore the reports surrounding some of Chelsea’s most important players. Thibaut Courtois’ future has been a consistent feature of discussion in the Transfer Tavern, with Real Madrid reportedly circling, whilst reports from Goal suggesting that Eden Hazard has been catching Pep Guardiola’s eye were enough to concern our resident Blues.

However, Chelsea were able to hold on to all of their important players throughout the course of the month, and that is to be commended. They don’t look likely to win much, if anything, this season – and so it may have been easy for a few players to attempt to force moves away. However, that didn’t happen – and the Chelsea brass deserve credit for achieving that.

Neither Man Utd or Man City lost any of their players, either, of course, but speculation was frequent regarding some of Chelsea’s stars – but the Blues resisted.