Glen Johnson has boldly claimed that Chelsea will be Manchester City’s “closest rivals” in the Premier League title race next season.
Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League last season after Todd Boehly bought the club from Roman Abramovich.
Boehly spent close to £600million on new players and sacked Thomas Tuchel a month into the campaign, replacing him with Graham Potter, who lasted seven months in charge.
Former player and manager Frank Lampard was appointed on an interim basis in April but had a worse time of it than anyone could have ever imagined.
The Blues only won one of Lampard’s nine Premier League matches at the helm and were also convincingly knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.
Things are looking up at Stamford Bridge with Mauricio Pochettino appointed as Potter’s long-term successor.
Chelsea will obviously be without European football next season, which is a positive in their bid to finish in the top four in the Premier League and win a domestic cup.
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While this is a good thing in that regard, it means Pochettino will need to substantially trim down his playing squad, with well over 30 first-team players on the club’s books.
The Argentine head coach has a lot to do before the 2023/24 season gets underway with Boehly expected to sanction the signings of a new midfielder, goalkeeper and striker, which Pochettino desperately needs, which is bizarre given how much Chelsea have spent in under a year.
And despite the mass exodus of players, how Chelsea performed last season and the improvement of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, who finished five points behind Manchester City last term, ex-Blues defender Glen Johnson has backed his former club to be the Cityzens’ “closest rivals” in 23/24.
“I obviously believe that Liverpool are going to improve next season, but I believe there’s a big gap between Manchester City and everybody else,” Johnson told Betfred.
“I don’t believe they’ll challenge for the Premier League title next season, but I do believe that Chelsea will be the surprise package if I’m being honest.
“Chelsea have a fantastic squad but they weren’t firing at all last season, but now they have a good manager and a good squad, I believe they’ll have a point to prove and they’ll be challenging more than anybody expected.
“I don’t believe they’ll be good enough to take Manchester City all the way, but I believe Chelsea will be their closest rivals.”
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