Todd Boehly has been slammed by Martin Keown for spending silly money on Marc Cucurella - as the Chelsea chief prepares to sanction a lavish £300million spending spree to acquire Frenkie de Jong, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Wesley Fofana.
After months of turmoil at Stamford Bridge, the Blues have been active in the transfer market since Boehly's takeover of the club was signed off earlier this summer. Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Carney Chukwuemeka have all arrived for significant transfer fees, while Cucurella has now arrived from the Seagulls for a sum that could eclipse £62m if various add-ons are met.
But the Londoners are still in desperate need of reinforcements - particularly in defence after Thomas Tuchel lost the services of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Cucurella has been tipped to feature as a left-sided centre-back after impressing in a wing-back role for Brighton last term, but Keown is adamant that regardless of where Cucurella players, the Londoners have paid well over the odds for the Spaniard.
The former Arsenal defender told talkSPORT : "Chelsea have gone out and paid £60-odd million for Cucurella – I think that’s nonsensical. It’s an incredible amount of money. I think it’s too much. Cucurella, as good as he is, I think there are still players out there that are better. To pay that kind of money with Ben Chilwell still there, [Marcos] Alonso’s still there. It does feel like it’s panic buying."
Despite Keown's concerns, the spending is unlikely to stop anytime soon at Stamford Bridge, with a new report from The Telegraph outlining that Boehly is willing to part with an astronomical amount of money in order to snap up De Jong, Aubameyang and Fofana.
Join the debate! Do you think Chelsea overpaid to get a deal done for Cucurella? Let us know here.
Barcelona are thought to be open to parting with both De Jong and Aubameyang to raise funds - even though they only rescued Aubameyang from his Arsenal nightmare seven months ago.
Meanwhile, Fofana is being eyed up to reinforce the Blues defence. It remains to be seen if Leicester City are open to doing business though; particularly as the Foxes have already rebuffed a £62m bid for the Londoners for the 21-year-old.
Despite the fact that Boehly is willing to spend big to overhaul Tuchel's squad, Keown is not convinced that the Chelsea chief's current approach is the correct one - something that Gary Neville also claimed in the wake of Chelsea's capture of Cucurella.
Keown added: "The new owner’s come in and he wants to make a difference. On the eve of the new season he’s making a statement with that kind of signing. Is it overspending? I think maybe it is."
