Frank Leboeuf has said that there’s one signing Chelsea desperately needs to make in this summer’s transfer window.
Chelsea are always going to be under the microscope ahead of a new season, but the interest may have ramped up because of a managerial change.
TalkSPORT reports that Chelsea are ‘close’ to appointing Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca as the new head coach at Stamford Bridge following Mauricio Pochettino’s recent exit.
On top of a new man in the dugout, will the Blues refresh a squad that just finished sixth in the Premier League by signing more players?
Frank Leboeuf has transfer advice for Chelsea
Frank Leboeuf, the ESPN pundit and former Blues player, has claimed that Chelsea should be prioritising the signing of an experienced central midfielder this summer to help the spine of the team.
He’s suggested that they need a leader in the centre of the park to come and help in the same way that 31-year-old Granit Xhaka did for German Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen this season.
Leboeuf told ESPN: “You know, I think of the example of Leverkusen, who have been absolutely fantastic with mostly unknown players, but the chemistry went so well that they created a miracle this season in the Bundesliga. It is possible for Chelsea to do that.
“But Xabi Alonso was so clever to bring only one player in the middle of the park, and he’s called [Granit] Xhaka playing for Arsenal. Everybody thought that the guy would go to pre-retirement to Leverkusen. I think Ale [Moreno] said that last time in the last show I was in that nobody expected that Xhaka would have the best season of his career and bring the Bundesliga to Leverkusen.
“Maybe Chelsea need a player like that, maybe as a centre-back, and, Mario [Melchiot] alluded to it, and for sure they need experienced players, but definitely for me in the middle of the park, somebody who is a leader, somebody who knows exactly what to do, somebody who can control everybody, make sure that everybody sticks to the same ideas. They definitely need somebody. The spine has to be reinforced at Chelsea.”
Don’t touch the midfield
While The Chelsea Chronicle agrees with Leboeuf on most things, this may be a rare moment of disagreement.
Of course, the idea of adding more experience to this young squad is a good one. The central midfield area should be untouched, though!
It should fall on incoming manager Maresca to find a solution with top-quality midfielders such as Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. Let’s remember that Fernandez cost £106.8m (Sky Sports), while Caicedo cost £115m (Sky Sports).
If Chelsea need to recruit know-how into their starting XI, they should look at either goalkeeper, centre-back or striker.