Jamie Carragher has told Chelsea to stop signing players amid the fallout of their latest transfer decisions.
The Blues’ squad stands at over 40 players with under a fortnight to find new clubs for as many as 14 players, including Raheem Sterling who reacted angrily to being dropped for the opening game against Manchester City.
Joao Felix is set to be the next to arrive in a deal with Atletico Madrid to facilitate Conor Gallagher’s departure to the Spanish club, and they may not be done there as Victor Osimhen is linked as new striker target.
For Liverpool legend Carragher, the situation has gotten out of hand.
“Chelsea have just got to stop buying players and players have got to stop signing for Chelsea,” Carragher told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football. “If I was a player, why would you sign?
“The only reason why you would sign is your agent might say: 'We're getting a seven-year deal on big money' - that's guaranteed money for seven years. You know what I'd say - back yourself as a player, sign a four-year deal at a proper club and back yourself to do well.
“Then when you're up for renewal your money goes up anyway. I don't understand why players are signing seven-year deals.”
"Chelsea have just got to stop buying players, and players have got to stop signing for Chelsea." @Carra23 on Chelsea's transfers over the summer 😨✍ pic.twitter.com/tbXjr4EJ90
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 19, 2024
When pressed on Chelsea being an “exciting” project, he continued: “Part of what? There isn't anything there. It is not a young and exciting team.
“They've bought Joao Felix - tell me where he's going to play. They signed [Pedro] Neto a week ago - where is he playing when you've got Cole Palmer? Then where do you play Enzo Fernandez, a £100million player? Where do you play [Christopher] Nkunku?
“Great football teams need competition. But every team I played in, there were seven or eight players who knew they were playing every week. Then you've got six or seven players who are fighting for three positions. Then you've got another six or seven players who know they are squad players. That is a healthy squad.
“What Chelsea have got right now, you ask where Joao Felix might play... I ask where's Felix going to get changed at the training ground? I’m deadly serious. If you've got 40 players - how are you in one dressing room? How are you putting a training session on? How are you creating cohesion?”
Fellow pundit Gary Neville pointed to “alarm bells” over Chelsea’s recent decision to extend Cole Palmer’s contract from a seven-year deal to nine years as an example of their haphazard thinking.
“One thing we do know is that they have recruited badly, because there are players they recruited two years ago who they want to get rid of,” he said.
“[The success of these new signings] remains to be seen but it does feel a little bit chaotic. It does feel bizarre, some of the contract lengths being given.
“I ask quite regularly, what is it that they know that the rest of football doesn’t know? Smart clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester City... what is it that this group of [Chelsea] owners know that the rest of football doesn’t know? I still haven’t got the answer.
“You relate it to amortisation, for FFP, for sustainability rules - it’s not. Because Cole Palmer, nine-year contract, he was already at the club. They’d already bought him, so there’s no real benefit. They believe in this method.
“[Trevoh] Chalobah came through the ranks, got a six-year deal, they now want him out. That’s another alarm bell.”
