Former Premier League striker Robert Earnshaw believes Graham Potter has a huge task on his hands to keep all his players happy after welcoming eight new arrivals in the January transfer window.
The Blues bolstered their squad heavily last month after a underwhelming start to the season despite having already made eight additions in the summer. Chelsea languish in 10th in the Premier League having picked up just 29 points all season, and they are 10 points off the pace in the race for the top four.
Assessing Chelsea’s £300m outlay last month on the Betfred Football Show, Earnshaw believes morale looks to be the biggest issue at Stamford Bridge. He said: “Chelsea’s biggest problem is there have been lots of signings, lots of money spent, the problem is going to be in the dressing room - I’ve been there, it’s keeping those players happy, over 30 players there.
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“Graham Potter is going to have the biggest headache because he is thinking ‘who am I going to play? And how am I going to keep them happy?’ It’s going to be very difficult. I still think Chelsea will get better but not good enough.”
The Welshman also believes that due to the volume of signings made, Blues boss Potter didn’t make the call on all of them.
“I don’t think Graham Potter has made all the signings, I think he’s made a handful of them and had a contribution to them but he’s not made all the signings - and that’s the biggest problem. You’re the manager, you want to have the input and say ‘yes I want him for this, this and this’ and have input on every player. I don’t think he’s had that. “
Earnshaw also feels that Chelsea’s transfer policy since Todd Boehly assumed control in the summer has been bold, particularly with the long-term contracts that have been handed out to the new recruits. But he does feel like three of the January arrivals being tied down for a long time could pay off for the club.
“The interesting thing is all of them [the new signings] have signed long-term deals, [seven and eight year contracts] I’ve never seen anything like it.
“What I do like [is the signing of] Enzo Fernandez especially. He’s broken the British transfer record, why? Because he’s young, 22 years old, just won the World Cup, big experience playing with one of the best in [Lionel] Messi. He understands his role so he’s going to be the middle centrepiece for everything else. I like him, I think he’s going to add a lot for Chelsea for years to come.
[Mykhailo] Mudryk as well has got a lot of potential, can he do it? I’m not sure yet but they spent big money [on him]. I trust Arsenal’s way of signing players and they [Chelsea] beat Arsenal to it [signing Mudryk]. I think he’s a very good player, showing good potential so far but huge money.
“Joao Felix is the other one I like, I think he’s a very good player and he’s the one that’s probably going to really stand out because every time you watch him he gets you out of your seat.
“The rest, to be honest, it’s a little bit of a gamble. They’ve made two or three that will be hits.”
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