Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin believes Cristiano Ronaldo would be an even bigger flop at Stamford Bridge than Romelu Lukaku.
Ronaldo, 37, wants to leave Manchester United this summer to play Champions League football. There aren't many clubs interested in the Portuguese superstar at this moment in time, although Chelsea were linked with him earlier in the window.
Lukaku, 29, re-joined the Blues from Inter Milan last August in a club-record £97.5million deal. He managed just eight Premier League goals last season - compared to 24 in Serie A the previous term - and has since returned to the San Siro on a year-long loan deal.
Nevin, who played for Chelsea between 1983 and 1988, is concerned Ronaldo will also struggle at Chelsea if he completes a move. The Real Madrid legend was prolific last season, scoring 18 Premier League goals as United finished a lacklustre sixth in the table.
"I think Ronaldo would be even more of a poor fit than Lukaku was for Chelsea," Nevin told BonusCodeBets. "When Lukaku signed last season, people thought he would be the missing link but I thought by signing him, Thomas Tuchel was throwing his style of play out the window, if indeed it was Thomas who signed him! It didn’t make sense to me.
"While Ronaldo scores a lot of goals, off the ball you are almost playing with ten men which you cannot do in the Premier League and be competitive. Some Chelsea fans may love it, but there have been some cases over the years around Chelsea which have made them look like a circus.
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"If they are trying to catch Man City, they can’t be a circus. If he is going to join, he has to be told he won’t play every game and may only play a 45 minutes but he has to work for the team. If he does, he could then be a brilliant signing for Chelsea."
Chelsea finished third in the Premier League last season, 19 points behind champions Manchester City. They've signed just two senior players this summer - Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly - and Tuchel has revealed his feelings about their lack of activity.
The Blues need to add more depth to their squad after saying goodbye to Lukaku, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger this summer. Several other players could also leave Stamford Bridge before September, including Barcelona target Cesar Azpilicueta.
"I can not guarantee it [we'll be ready for the season]," said Tuchel after Chelsea's 4-0 loss to Arsenal. "I saw today a team in Arsenal who are mentally committed to an idea of playing, a level of exhaustion, a level of physical commitment that we could not match.
"Also, a level of mental commitment that we lacked because we have a lot of players who are thinking about leaving and looking at their options. We have players that have left and I think at the moment that's obvious."
On transfers, Tuchel added: "We had an urgent appeal for quality players and a huge amount of quality players. We've got two quality players – that is no doubt – but we are not competitive like this and unfortunately, we could see it today."
