Some Chelsea players are unconvinced that ‘the new signings are all up to standard’ amid the Blues’ terrible form, according to reports.
Chelsea have spent around £600m on new signings since Todd Boehly announced last May that he had completed a takeover of the Premier League club.
However, things on the pitch have not been going well after Graham Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel in September with Chelsea currently tenth in the Premier League table.
They hit a new low on Saturday when they lost 1-0 to Southampton – who are bottom of the standings – with Potter’s side on a run of just two wins in 14 matches in all competitions.
The fans booed the team and manager at full-time over the weekend with Potter under intense pressure to turn around their fortunes.
Widespread reports have claimed that Boehly and the rest of the Chelsea board are still fully behind Potter with the former Brighton boss part of their long-term project for the club.
Mason Mount and other English players have been linked with a move away from the club in the summer and The Athletic insist there is ‘genuine concern’ that they could be sold to help balance the books.
The report claims:
‘There is a genuine concern among some that many of the English contingent are going to be sold in the summer to help balance the budget after two transfer windows of incredible spending. This uncertainty is going to affect morale.
‘Among the survivors of the Roman Abramovich era, there is a pervading sense of bemusement as to the sweeping nature of the changes driven by Boehly and Eghbali since their takeover last May.’
Despite spending a huge amount of money over the last two transfer windows, there are still concerns inside the club that some of Chelsea’s new players are not of the required ability to challenge at the top of the Premier League.
The Athletic adds:
‘It remains early days, but not everyone in the squad is convinced the new signings are all up to Chelsea standard, regardless of their price tags.
‘There is, however, an understandable feeling (familiar to many who lived through the Abramovich era) that the new ownership’s high-profile acquisitions will be given priority when it comes to minutes on the pitch between now and May, at the expense of those who are deemed less central to the project moving forward.’
Speaking about what is currently going wrong, Potter told reporters on Saturday: “We’ve invested in some young players, if you look at Enzo and Mudryk, at Madueke.They haven’t played that many games. They’re learning to play in the Premier League. We’re managing quite an injury list, we’ve got players returning from injury.
“All these things are true. But unfortunately when you lose they’re not what people want to hear.
“I know my quality and I know what I’ve done in my career. But I also understand that when results don’t go your way, you’re open to criticism and that’s fair.”
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