Chelsea legend Pat Nevin claims his former club is “unrecognisable” on the back of Todd Boehly spending £1bn on a team that looks like it’s been “developed by an algorithm”.
The Blues currently sit tenth in the Premier League, 20 points behind league leaders Liverpool following their 4-1 drubbing at Anfield on Wednesday.
That’s despite the club’s American owners spending a whopping £1bn on new players since their takeover in May 2022.
And Nevin is far from impressed, claiming Cole Palmer is the exception in a squad that “doesn’t work”.
Nevin told The Sun: “Chelsea is almost unrecognisable from the club it was two years ago. Not just personnel but the club’s whole outlook. The age of players, lack of really big stars, the atmosphere in the stadium, everything.
“You don’t bring a bunch of young people into the Premier League who don’t have the experience. It was madness — even if you spend £1bn it doesn’t matter. Do they look close to being in the top four? No!
“They look like a team that’s been developed by an algorithm. It’s a case of, ‘That bit’s good, that bit’s good, that bit’s good’ — but the collective doesn’t work. The left-back doesn’t work well with the left winger, or that one won’t work well with that one.
“Midfielder Cole Palmer is the exception and he can work with anyone.
“It’s a great experiment. You buy all these young players but they’re never going to do well for the first two years.”
Chelsea were linked with a January swoop for former Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema — even though he is now 36 years old and at Saudi side Al-Ittihad.
Nevin added: “There was talk about bringing in Benzema, which is diametrically the opposite of what the plan is!
“So if you did that you’d be entitled to say, ‘What happened to the plan?’
“You can’t bulls**t people and say it’s great and it’s just about there. It’s like a cure for cancer — it will be here in five years. And in five years, saying, ‘It’ll be here in five years!’
“Chelsea need to finish in the top four next season because of how the finances work.
“My background is in accounts and economics. I’ve also run Motherwell before. So that side of the business intrigues me.
“Chelsea didn’t fall foul of FFP this time. But I watched Everton fall foul of that after they were going to be the next big thing.
“They are another of my former clubs and I hope that doesn’t happen again.
“Because if you spend that much and you don’t get Champions League football and you amortise over seven or eight years and it doesn’t work. You need that £80million to £100m of Champions League cash every season for it to work.
“That’s why by next year they need to be in the top four. And — right now — I don’t know if they will be.”
