In recent times the stable ship of Stamford Bridge seems to have hit rough waters. The manager they offered a ten year contract just two years ago was in conflict with the board – and they failed to lift the Premiership title. For once, without the continuous service of Captain John Terry at the helm, the boat began to leak.

On paper the squad down at Chelsea is utterly formidable, a World XI in the making, but just how many superstars can one team hold? Last season’s second place finish should be considered a success, because it could just have easily been a whole lot worse. To the untrained spectator, the Blues were fielding a misfiring Ukrainian, a lost German and an unconfident Englishman. It was the individual brilliance of the likes of Drogba, Essien and Terry that got them through – there is quite simply no team ethic at Stamford Bridge anymore. With the revelation coming that Jurgen Klinnsman recently turned down the top job at Stamford Bridge, something clearly isn’t right, why was the position available? The special one is losing control.

I can’t see this improving next season. New signings Tal Ben Haim and Steve Sidwell both turned down Newcastle amongst other clubs so that they could sign up for the easy life aboard with Chelsea. Another new arrival, Claudio Pizzaro, has already done all the hard work in his career with Bayern and Werder Bremen and now he is looking to sit back and watch Drogba win him medals. I can’t see it working.

Taking pickings from Chelsea always presents rather obvious choices. We’ve already signed utility man Geremi, a signature I am very impressed with. He provides competition for a number of positions and this might give Emre and Nicky Butt the incentive they need to keep motoring - but it might also give our dubious Irishman Stephen Carr a good kick up the backside in time for the new campaign. Big Sam has made it known he is in the market for a left fullback and personally I’d love to see Wayne Bridge follow Cameroonian Geremi up the A1. Some sources claim that the player himself would favour a move up north, the chance to link up with Duff and Geremi may only serve to encourage him to do so. Having a talented, experienced Englishman with an attacking flair patrolling our left side is more than an attractive proposition and I’m sure Bridge would be licking his lips at the challenge of displacing ex-team mate Celestine Babayaro. I think he might find the results slightly more satisfying than his battle with Ashley Cole – whom he currently has to take on at both domestic and international level.

As a club looking to exchange the transfer kitty for defensive reinforcements, we have naturally been linked with want-away defender Khalid Boulahrouz. The Dutchman failed to impress in the Premiership last season and he is rumoured to want a return to the Bundesliga. If Big Sam feels he can acclimatize the defender (who can play all across the back four) to the EPL, then great. But he had the kind of season that, well, gets you sold. So I’m not sure how useful he’d be for us and we can’t just sign someone based on the fact that they play for the mighty Chelsea; our own Babayaro is prime example of why not to do that.

Do you think Chelsea will find their magic form again in the coming season? Who else would you want to tempt away from the rotation of Mourinho? Have your say.

Previously, Buying From Our Premiership Rivals 2007 recommended the following players:

Arsenal
Matthieu Flamini
Justin Hoyte
Johan Djourou
Armand Traore
David Dein (as a potential Chief Executive)

Aston Villa
Aaron Hughes (Has moved to Fulham)

Birmingham City
Gary McSheffrey
Sebastien Larsson

Blackburn Rovers
Ryan Nelsen
David Bentley
Morten Gamst Pedersen
Benni McCarthy

Bolton Wanderers
Nicholas Anelka
El-Hadji Diouf
Gary Speed

Chelsea
Wayne Bridge
Khalid Boulahrouz