Joe Cole has warned Todd Boehly that Chelsea could struggle to trim down the squad in the summer. The next Blues boss is set to inherit 30 senior players in the summer, leaving the club no choice but to cut ties with some big names.
However, Cole has warned the west Londoners that it could be difficult to offload those with larger contracts – similarly to the dilemma Real Madrid face concerning Eden Hazard. The 32-year-old completed his dream move to the Spanish capital in 2019, but he's yet to have recaptured the dazzling form he once enjoyed at Stamford Bridge.
Now, Chelsea could face a similar issue, according to Cole. Speaking on BT Sport, the former Blues midfielder said: "Do you think maybe these guys who run these clubs, they have these massive companies with thousands of employees, a 30-man squad, they might think we’ve had 30 employees in a certain job, it’s fine, you manage them, but professional footballers at this level, it’s difficult to manage them.
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"Egos and you’re on big money, and also you can’t be sacked, you’re on a contract," Cole added. "When you’re out of the squad you’ve got an asset diminishing quickly, massively.
"We look at one of the best players I’ve ever seen pull on the Chelsea shirt - Eden Hazard - he’s gone to Real Madrid, it’s not worked, he’s on massive money and they can’t get him out of the door. He’s signed his contract and he’s well within his rights to sit there if he wants and sit on the bench at Real Madrid, now this is going to happen to Chelsea, unless they’re proactive, and it’s going to cost them a fortune to offload these players."
Michael Owen highlighted the challenges which Frank Lampard faces with such a large squad to manage. The former Liverpool striker said: "When you look at the players, I still think there’s some great players here, it’s an incredibly talented team.
"I think they’ve got the basis of - they have got everything, haven’t they? They’ve got a great training ground, everything about them is very good, but they’ve almost done it the wrong way round.
"They’ve just gone and bought everyone and now there’s a big problem, so the first thing they’ve got to do is trim the squad - that is draining managers, I’m certain of it. When you go into the training ground and you’ve got 30-odd players you can bet your bottom dollar you think ‘who’s going to knock on my door next?’
"And it drains you having to keep people happy before you can then focus on improving your team. You’re having to deal with 15 unhappy players, it must be so draining, they’ve got to do that before any."
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