“They’ve forgotten about one element, knowing that to play football at the highest level” - Marcel Desailly criticises Chelsea decision

Chelsea legend Marcel Desailly has criticised the Blues' strategy of buying only young players in recent transfer windows.

The west London side have invested over £1 billion in players since the Todd Boehly-led consortium's takeover last summer. They have mostly signed young players below the age of 25, especially this summer.

This has brought little success to the club as they finished 12th in the Premier League last season. They are 11th this season after 10 games with just three wins. Chelsea's squad mainly comprises young players, which Desailly is a big factor in the club's failures.

He told Get French Football News that the Blues need more experienced players, saying:

“The only thing that I'd say though is that it is an error of communication. They are carried away by the potential that each player that they've bought has, because they've forgotten about one element, knowing that to play football at the highest level."

He added:

“To attain what we call in French la culture de la gagne, the winning mentality, you need experience – nascent talent is never enough to presume immediate performance. And that's the only thing where I'd say they've made a mistake, where they keep thinking, with the coach Pochettino, 'no, this year we'll be title challengers with the team that we have'.

Desailly added that Chelsea have signed players mainly from a business standpoint rather than challenging for the title:

“Right from the start of the season, you could see that they can't be title challengers, it was obvious. But they have put together players of great potential and have positioned themselves in terms of business, because if they didn't buy the players now for a little above value, they wouldn't have been able to buy them later."

The Blues signed the likes of Enzo Fernandez (22), Moises Caicedo (22) and Romeo Lavia (19) in recent transfer windows on long-term contracts. As per Goal, they passed off the opportunity to sign James Maddison mainly because he is 26.

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Chelsea gaining some momentum ahead of Tottenham clash

The Blues had a poor start to the 2023-24 season under Mauricio Pochettino. Despite arguably playing well in some games, Chelsea's poor finishing saw them fail to take all three points. This includes a 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest or a 3-1 loss at West Ham United.

The Blues, however, appear to be turning a corner as they have lost just one of their last six games across competitions, winning four. They beat Brighton & Hove Albion and Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup and Fulham and Burnley in the Premier League.

Chelsea drew 2-2 against Arsenal but lost their last league game 2-0 against Brentford. They will next take on league leaders Tottenham Hotspur away on Monday, November 6.