Mauricio Pochettino told he has major midfield problem despite £278m transfer spend
Chelsea have spent close to £300million on three new midfielders in the last two transfer windows but the Blues may still have an issue to contend with
Despite spending nearly £300million on midfield transfers in the space of two transfer windows, Mauricio Pochettino has something of a problem. At least that’s according to Graeme Souness.
Chelsea signed Moises Caicedo from Brighton for £115million last week and then stumped up £58million to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton in a big-money spending spree.
The duo will join another big-money signing in the middle of the park in Enzo Fernandez – the Argentinian World Cup winner who joined the Blues in January for £105million.
That is £278million worth of talent in the middle of the park for Pochettino’s side, strengthening an area that lookedm particularly weak after the departures of Mason Mount, N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic.
Caicedo is expected to make his Blues debut in the Premier League clash with West Ham United on Sunday afternoon, with Lavia in line to play a part as well. Chelsea secured both signatures ahead of Liverpool, who had shown an interest in both, even having a fee agreed with Brighton for Caicedo before the Blues came to an agreement.
But Souness believes despite the signigns, Chelsea have a major problem when it comes to all three of them – goals. They do not score enough of them.
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“You can have the best goalkeeper, defence and midfield but unless you can put the ball in the net, you don’t win matches.
“The numbers speak for themselves. Fernandez didn’t score for Chelsea last season. Caicedo scored once for Brighton. Lavia scored once for Southampton.”
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Vladimír Coufal is looking forward to seeing what West Ham United’s two newest signings can bring to the team.
Midfield duo Edson Álvarez and James Ward-Prowse have completed switches to the Hammers from Ajax and Southampton, respectively, and both will be hoping to make their Irons debut on Sunday when Chelsea visit London Stadium.
The pair have enjoyed a week of training with their new teammates at Rush Green and Coufal has been impressed with what both players have shown so far.
The experienced full-back is now keen to see that ability and determination translate onto the pitch in their first competitive outings.
“We’ve got two new players in, two more central midfielders, and they have to fight because the standards are set really high here,” Coufal said.
“From the first day, Edson has looked very focused, committed and switched on in training. I think that’s the perfect mentality. We will see how he does when he first gets a chance on the Premier League stage but I believe in him a lot. He has been really good in the sessions.
“James is a very experienced Premier League player, and I think everyone in the world knows about his set-pieces. Hopefully he will continue to do that here but he doesn’t need to prove any of his qualities here because he’s done it in this league. This will be something new for him, at West Ham, and is a new challenge for him.”
One player Coufal knows all about, having worked closely with him on the right flank for the Hammers in recent seasons, is Jarrod Bowen.
The attacker looks set to enjoy another prolific campaign in Claret and Blue after opening his 2023/24 account with a stunning finish away to AFC Bournemouth last weekend.
Coufal relishes the opportunity to link up with Bowen in every game, with the duo often doubling up on opposition wingers and full-backs to create an overload and gain the advantage.
“I’ve worked really hard all my career to get some success. Winning that trophy last season was absolutely amazing for me and for all of us,” he added.
“It’s what we wanted for all our careers but then you have to switch again and prove to yourself and to people again that we can play Premier League football. It’s what we want to do for this amazing Club so it’s easy to fight for that every day.
“We got a point from the first game which is not too bad, but in my opinion we lost two points at Bournemouth because we took the lead and had the chances. But that is football sometimes and we can build on that.
“I watched Chelsea against Liverpool and I was really impressed. Pochettino has done really well with them so far already. They were playing quick, one-touch football, and it is going to be a good test for us on Sunday.”
