Martin Keown isn’t convinced Chelsea are back on track to challenge for the Premier League title and claims the club will sell star player Cole Palmer in the near-future.
2024/25 was by far Chelsea’s best season since Roman Abramovich sold the club to Todd Boehly’s BlueCo group, as they finished fourth in the table and won the Conference League title.
Enzo Maresca’s side will play Champions League football next season and have the chance to win another major trophy this summer at the revamped Club World Cup.
It’s a positive sign for Boehly and co. whose ownership of the Blues has been widely panned, with £1.5billion spent on 51 players in just three years and little to show for it.
Huge investments like Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella are starting to come good but there is still a lack of experience in the squad which could prevent them challenging Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City.
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‘You need balance in your squad in terms of the age,’ Gunners legend Keown told talkSPORT.
‘I’m not sure about the model. I thought the club were doing exceptionally well for many years. Five Premier Leagues they won in the Abramovich era. And I felt the club went backwards in an endeavour to go forwards.
‘They spent £1.5billion, going round in circles, five different managers, Graham Potter given a five-year deal, out of the door in months. There’s been a lot of instability in the club, lot of young players coming in.
‘I’m not totally convinced. I think Cole Palmer will be sold at some point because he’s such a wonderful talent and I think maybe this becomes more of a selling club which the fans are not used to.
‘It’s great they’re back in the Champions League but I think when you look at what they had under the previous manager Thomas Tuchel, winning the UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup and Champions League in just 12 months, they went backwards [when they sacked him].’
Palmer has unquestionably been Chelsea’s best signing of the Boehly era, recording 40 goals and 27 assists in the last two seasons after leaving Man City for £40m.
The England international has been tentatively tipped with a move to Manchester United, the club he supported growing up, but such a transfer seems very far-fetched at the moment.
The Blues have already secured one signing this summer, with Liam Delap joining from Ipswich Town but while Keown rates the deal, he does have some reservations.
‘Not dissimilar to Arsenal they [Chelsea] need someone else to come in there [centre-forward] and Liam Delap’s going to be a nice signing for them,’ the former defender added.
‘Is he actually experienced enough to take them to another level? Will he even play? Because Nicolas Jackson isn’t all that bad and when he was out for long periods he was a big miss.’
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