Former Arsenal attacker Paul Merson thinks England international Cole Palmer has been Chelsea’s only “really good signing” under Todd Boehly.
The Blues have spent over £1bn on signings since Boehly’s takeover was completed ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino was appointed during the summer and he was tasked with overseeing a major summer overhaul.
Up to now, this is not going to plan as Chelsea have endured a poor start to the 2023/24 season. They are 12th in the Premier League after two straight losses against Man Utd and Everton.
Not many of their signings have paid off up to now, but Palmer has arguably been their standout performer this season.
Bought for around £42m from Treble winners Man City, Palmer has grabbed five goals and two assists in his first 13 Premier League outings for Chelsea.
Merson thinks Palmer is the only recent Chelsea addition who can be classed as a “really good signing”.
“If Chelsea go and buy players in January, then Pochettino has to have a say in it,” Merson wrote in his column for Sky Sports.
“I went through the summer signings. I was looking at them and it was like, “good signing”, “alright”, “no”, “alright”, “not bad” and “alright”. That’s where it is at the moment. There are not many you can say have been amazing.
“Cole Palmer has been a really good signing, but I’m not sure there’s much else.
“Mykhailo Mudryk hasn’t really got going. [Moises] Caicedo doesn’t look like a £115m player. Enzo Fernandes looks really good every now and then.
“Axel Disasi looks good when he plays next to Thiago Silva and he’s playing well. Noni Madueke and Carney Chukwuemeka don’t play.
“You can keep going through the list and it is the same. I just don’t see what the thinking was with all these signings.”
Earlier this season, Jamie Carragher suggested that Palmer already “feels like the main man” at Chelsea.
“He’ll feel his body of work here, if he continues the way he’s going, is a lot better than what he’s done at Manchester City and the medals he might have won. It’s nonsense to me, to be honest,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“Everyone plays a part, but you all know when you’ve played a major part in a team’s success. He’s a major part now in this Chelsea team and he almost feels like the main man.
“He’s part of the group of players I feel who are making a late surge for the tournament next summer for England. The way he’s playing right now, you feel there’s a great chance he could end up in that Euros squad.”