'I knew' - Chelsea scout says he already warned club directors about squad problem
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Chelsea scout Seyi Olofinjana has opened up about the conversation he had with the club directors before the start of this season.
Chelsea's Club World Cup-winning campaign this summer has proved to be costly so far.
Several Chelsea players suffered injuries throughout and after the competition, and in particular, Levi Colwill, who is likely to miss the majority of the season due to a cruciate ligament injury.
This is hardly a surprise, however, according to Blues scout Olofinjana, who claimed he had already warned the club directors about the congested schedule problem.
"I've got to be very careful what I say here, I work for Chelsea," the former Wolves midfielder told SuperSport, as reported by All Nigeria Soccer.
"But to be honest, this is what I discussed even with the directors in the football club.
"Before any ball was kicked this season, I knew Chelsea would struggle given the season they had last year.
"When the season was finished, whether they won the Club World Cup was immaterial.
"When you play back-to-back and then you have only a week to come back into a new season, it happened with Colwill, who has an ACL (injury) at the moment and will be out for a long time."
FIFPro, the union of professional football players worldwide, has recently criticised FIFA's Club World Cup, too, highlighting how Chelsea players had just 13 days of preseason, which is significantly below the 28-day offseason and 28-day preseason recommended by experts.
Based on Olofinjana's, the people at the club are aware of these risks too, although it is difficult to say what Chelsea could have done differently to mitigate this.
Like the rest of the Premier League, Chelsea are only able to register 25 players, including at least eight homegrown players, plus those under the age of 21.
Fortunately, Chelsea have plenty of young talents to bolster their squad, but their injury problems still suggest that even that is not enough to offset the toll on their squad after a gruelling summer.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.