Graham Potter warns Chelsea cannot keep turning to transfer window to solve problems

It was indicative of Chelsea right now that for over an hour the most interesting thing to happen in Sunday’s match was the club announcing the signing of Mykhailo Mudryk – but head coach Graham Potter has warned the club cannot keep turning to the transfer window for solutions.

Mudryk, who for so long courted a move to Arsenal, was confirmed as a Chelsea player by the club’s website in the 22nd minute and was then introduced to the Stamford Bridge crowd at half-time, draped in the flag of Ukraine.

Chelsea’s new £88 million signing will put more pressure on Kai Havertz, the last ‘generational signing’ the club signed for a huge fee, but the German responded with the winning goal against Crystal Palace that provided head coach Graham Potter with some relief.

Chelsea’s enthusiastic owners have already spent almost £500m in one-and-a-half transfer windows, but Potter conceded that the club cannot keep seeking to solve their problems by adding more and more players to his squad.

The signing of Mudryk means Chelsea have 12 forwards and strikers, either signed permanently, on loan, out on loan, or, in the case of Christopher Nkunku, arriving in the summer.

“I think we've got to be, not necessarily careful, but I think you've just got to understand that we've got about 10 or 11 players unavailable,” said Potter. “So, obviously, you can't just sign players to replace those because in the end, you have a squad of 30 and that's the problem.

“You have to do the right thing and look at what the right solutions are. Sometimes they're not lined completely as you'd like them because the window is complicated in January. My job, I think, is trying to support the club, make the right decisions. And then to help the team improve.”

Co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have put together a new recruitment team of Paul Winstanley, Christopher Vivell, Joe Shields, Laurence Stewart and Kyle Macaulay.

Potter, who described Mudryk as being a player with “a big future”, added: “There's a period of transition and you have to stabilise things and work to support the club as best as you can. Because if you're in a position where, over a too small period, too many people are making recruitment decisions, it's not really the recipe for long-term or short-term success. 

“So we have to stabilise things. We have to make good decisions and we have to align our resources because resources have to be aligned and they have to be used in the right way.”

Chelsea have handed Mudryk an unprecedented eight-and-a-half-year contract and Potter joked: “If I'm here for the remainder of his contract, we're all be happy.”

Other than earning his team three points, Havertz’s headed goal allowed the Chelsea crowd another opportunity to chant the name of Gianluca Vialli, who the club and supporters paid an emotional tribute to ahead of kick-off following the Italian’s death.

Two enormous flags were unfurled in memory of Vialli at each end of Stamford Bridge, as a video of the former Chelsea striker and manager was played on the big screens and watched by the current team and players from the past.

On the Vialli tributes, Potter said: “It was an emotional day, obviously because of the tribute to Gianluca that I thought was very fitting for a man of his quality.”

Potter made five changes from the side that lost at Fulham, with another one of Chelsea’s January signings, Benoit Badiashile, making his debut for the club.

Badiashile made an accomplished start to his Blues career, although Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had to make good saves from Tyrick Mitchell and Jeffrey Schlupp in the opening 45 minutes.

Chelsea could have gone in at the break ahead, but Lewis Hall missed a great chance to score at the far post after being found by Conor Gallagher, while Havertz headed over and Hakim Ziyech had a volley saved by Vicente Guaita.

When Havertz shot at Guaita in the 57th minute, it looked like the forward may endure another frustrating afternoon and Mudryk, sitting in a box, looked more interested in his phone than the match.

But, eight minutes later, Havertz produced an excellent header from a Ziyech cross to open the scoring following a smart short corner routine. 

He later missed a great opportunity to double his and Chelsea’s tally and Kepa, who had been at fault for Fulham’s winner, had to make an excellent diving save to keep out Cheick Doucoure’s volley and prevent a late equaliser.

There were no grand celebrations from Potter at full-time, but this was a victory he and Chelsea badly needed.

Palace manager Patrick Vieira was booked near the end of the game for his complaints to the officials over what he felt was unfair treatment of his team.

“There was a lot of frustration from my side because we got too many decisions against us,” said Vieira. “What is important is to understand that we don’t want any kind of favour. We just wanted to be treated like anyone else. Today too many decisions went against us and the frustration grew from game to game. That is something I can’t accept.”