Chelsea have started a staggering 16 more players in 2023 than Newcastle

There’s a lot wrong at Chelsea Football Club, but one statistic shows just how glaring their lack of stability is.

The Blues have gotten off to their second-worst Premier League start in this term, coming off the back of their second-worst ever season.

A scoreless draw away at Bournemouth last weekend follows defeat to Nottingham Forest, while their only league win comes against newly-promoted Luton Town.

Sadly for Chelsea fans this season, it’s so far been the same old same old during the Todd Boehly era, dating back to last summer – a year after their Champions League triumph.

However, the malaise has been particularly bad in 2023, with four different coaches leading the team, and two more transfer windows further complicating matters.

An astonishing £1billion has been spent on the squad in the last three windows, with £400million this summer alone, and so far there’s been little return on the pitch.

That’s not just players failing to show up during the 90 minutes either, but failing to show up at all, with a huge injury crisis making Mauricio Pochettino’s bench at the weekend unrecognisable despite the gargantuan outlay on players.

In 2023, a whopping 24 players arrived over the summer and winter windows, with 44 going the other way, meaning that this calendar year 37 different players have started Premier League games for Chelsea.

That’s eight more than the teams with the second-most starts, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham, while it’s a huge 16 more than Newcastle and Brentford.

Eddie Howe’s Magpies may come as a particular lesson to Chelsea, with their 21 players during 2023 ensuring an incredible year at St. James Park.

3

3

Howe has been able to fine-tune his squad and implement a coherent system to take them back into the Champions League, while Chelsea’s changing room traffic jam has them floundering the other way.

talkSPORT football match centre

Keep up-to-date with all the latest Chelsea fixtures and results and live Premier League standings in our new match centre.