Chelsea should have signed James Maddison or James Ward-Prowse, with Todd Boehly’s ownership group accused of being more interested in making money.
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Big investment made in transfer marketPotential favoured over pedigreeLack of consistency on & off the fieldWHAT HAPPENED?
That is the opinion of former Blues star Frank Leboeuf, who feels serious questions need to be asked of the recruitment model at Stamford Bridge. Premier League heavyweights in west London have splashed out over £1 billion ($1.3bn) on fresh faces, but most of that investment has gone on young stars that are tied to long contracts and boast future sale potential.
AdvertisementGettyWHAT LEBOEUF SAID ABOUT CHELSEA
Leboeuf has told of dealings at Chelsea from a board that have their priorities all wrong: “I don’t understand what the owners at the club are doing. Why did Chelsea let James Maddison go to Tottenham last summer? Why did they let James Ward-Prowse go to West Ham? Why are they not at Chelsea? These players didn’t cost a lot but they’ve brought a lot to their teams. Chelsea had these options in the transfer market but now we all know that these kinds of players weren’t in their thoughts, they just want to sign young, talented players on long contracts because they want to make money. They don’t want results – and we saw the consequences of this in the [Carabao Cup final] defeat to Liverpool on Sunday… Chelsea are not yet a team who are ready to win again. Hopefully losing that final will spark something different in the team. Hopefully a few of their egos will be hurt and then they will show something different. They can react well and they might have a lot of finals left in their careers for Chelsea, so you have to learn from these experiences. You learn more in defeat than you do in winning even though it is cruel and it hurts.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Amid the struggles for consistency on the field at Chelsea, head coach Mauricio Pochettino has seen his future called into question. Leboeuf is not convinced that another change in the dugout should be made, with the World Cup-winning Frenchman adding: “I don’t believe that it would be a good thing for Chelsea to get rid of Pochettino. Chelsea have changed the coach because of poor results for a few years now, but the fact is that they don’t have the players to produce results right now. The owners bet on the training, infrastructure and future of Chelsea but they still want immediate results, are you kidding me? It doesn’t work like that. When Pochettino signed I didn’t expect anything from him and if they go and bring in another coach then everything will just start from scratch again. There will be all of the same problems. Pochettino has started to make his mark, there are clear improvements, just let him work! He will do good things at Chelsea but the results are not just on him because responsibility also lies with the players. Right now, Chelsea don’t have a good enough squad to blame the manager for a lack of results. They have lots of talented players but they don’t have a team. It is going to take a while and bringing in a new manager will only take the club backwards.”
Getty/GOALWHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?
Chelsea have slumped to 11th in the Premier League table, after missing out on European qualification last season, and the FA Cup now presents their only avenue to major silverware in 2024 – with Championship promotion hopefuls Leeds set to be faced in the fifth round of that competition on Wednesday.