Former Chelsea defender, Gary Cahill, has identified two things the Blues need under their manager, Mauricio Pochettino amid the club’s poor start to the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
Chelsea currently sit in 12th position on the Premier League table with four points from four matches.
The west London club had spent £1.1bn in signing new players across three transfer windows under co-owner Todd Boehly.
Despite the new additions, Pochettino’s side are currently in the second half of the Premier League table this season.
However, Cahill, who won two Premier League titles with Chelsea during his time at Stamford Bridge, believes the Premier League giants need ‘time and patience’ to turn things around under Pochettino.
“They’ve had a few sticky results and that will give them some experience. In contrast to that, the manager [Pochettino] has obviously got bundles of experience in this league, so I think he’s a great person to guide them through this,” Cahill told Hayters.
Obviously it is quite disappointing in terms of the results but the average age of the squad is very, very young and it is a new squad that has been put together.
“A lot of them have not got huge experience in football just yet and certainly not in the Premier League so that will take time, it is a very hard league.
“But there are bundles of talent. I was away on pre-season with them and saw the training, and I was very impressed. But this will obviously take time. Time and patience and let these young players develop.”
Chelsea secure secret agreement to sign world’s most-wanted striker in 2024 – report
Chelsea are leading the race to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli and the report saying so claims they may even have agreed a deal already.
Osimhen was arguably the most coveted striker in the transfer market this summer, but Napoli held firm and kept their centre-forward. However, interest in the Nigeria international from other clubs is not going to fade away ahead of the new year.
According to Football Transfers, Chelsea have decided to make Osimhen their top target for the summer of 2024. Meanwhile, they are said to have taken the lead in the race to sign him, ahead of rival suitors such as Arsenal.
The report even hints they might have agreed a deal with Osimhen already, which is why they were happy enough just to add Nicolas Jackson up front this summer.
How much substance there is to those suggestions, only time will tell. But when Osimhen is on the move in the transfer market, Chelsea will be one of the main clubs to watch out for.
Centre-forward has been something of a problem position for Chelsea for a while now. Players like Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner have been prolific elsewhere but have struggled to replicate those talents at Stamford Bridge in recent years.
Chelsea evolving their attack
This season, Mauricio Pochettino can choose between Jackson and Armando Broja as his main options at centre-forward, as well as another new arrival, Deivid Washington.
Christopher Nkunku was brought in over the summer from RB Leipzig to add a new element to their attack, but he has since suffered an injury.
Osimhen became one of the most highly-rated strikers on the planet last season when his goals helped Napoli to a rare Serie A title. During his time in Italy, he has scored 62 goals from 104 appearances for his current club.
By the time next summer comes around, there will only be one year remaining on his contract with Napoli, unless they are able to find a way to extend it.
Depending on how they do this season, Chelsea could be in a strong position to offer Osimhen the next step and a first taste of Premier League football. They will have to make major progress in Pochettino’s first season in charge to right some wrongs from last term, but adding a player like the former Lille star could be the missing piece they have been trying to find.
Osimhen will be 25 years old by the time Chelsea can try to sign him, thus approaching his peak years.