Former Chelsea, Arsenal and France midfielder Emmanuel Petit has launched a scathing attack on the Blues' transfer strategy under their current ownership.
Ever since Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali came into the Stamford Bridge offices at the expense of Roman Abramovich in 2022, Chelsea have spent over an astronomical £1bn on new players, only to struggle to escape mid-table mediocrity in the Premier League and only just sneak into the top six last term.
The Blues' recruitment drive has focused on signing the talents of tomorrow, some of whom have already been integrated into the first team to exceptional effect, such as former Manchester City starlet Cole Palmer.
However, many other fledgling talents have either been sent out on loan or are struggling for minutes in Chelsea's bloated squad, which currently houses 44 senior players, although a handful are expected to leave before the transfer window shuts.
Despite their staggering outlay and concerns over their Financial Fair Play situation, Chelsea have not finished in the top five of the Premier League table since the 2021-22 season, placing 12th in 2022-23 before Mauricio Pochettino guided them to sixth and a spot in the Europa Conference League last term.
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Petit: 'I read the Chelsea news and think what the hell?'
The Argentine became the latest victim of the trigger-happy Chelsea board in favour of Enzo Maresca, though, and the ex-Leicester City boss has welcomed another nine players into his squad this summer at a cost of over £150m.
Chelsea's pre-season was a forgettable affair, though, as they only prevailed in one of their six summer friendlies while suffering three losses to Celtic, Real Madrid and Manchester City, whom they face on Sunday in their Premier League opener.
Speaking exclusively to Sports Mole with BetVictor, Petit launched an explosive rant on Chelsea's transfer dealings, as well as their "stability" and "vision", which he claimed would have a seriously negative impact on the players.
"When I look at Chelsea, I'm following the news every day and I'm thinking 'What the hell?!' How many players they have? 45? And they're still splashing money! This is not American sport," the 53-year-old said.
"Can you imagine entering into the dressing room at Chelsea, looking around and thinking 'who's going to play? Who's going to be on the first XI?' What can I do to bring confidence to the players? The stability on the bench as well, the stability in the group. This is not something good for the players, you need to have a very good vision.
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Petit: 'If you ask Chelsea fans, they will agree with me'
"At the moment, I can understand the sport vision of Chelsea, when they splash so many millions on young players, I can understand that. But they are doing that every single transfer market! They buy a player, then six months or one year later they change the player they bought, they're going to buy somebody else. This is not how you work in football.
"They signed a new manager on a five-year contract, this is good, but there is no guarantee that in the next three or four months he is still on the bench. They've been changing manager every single season, changing players every single season.
"If you ask the fans about it, I think they will agree with me. To be honest with you, I'm lost. I'm not a Chelsea player anymore, but if I am I'm thinking 'What are we going to do?' I signed an eight-year contract, I have a lot of money, but I'm not guaranteed that in six months, they won't put me on the transfer market."
Petit spent four seasons at Chelsea from 2000 to 2004 and made 76 appearances for the Blues across all competitions, scoring three goals and providing seven assists from the heart of midfield.
The Frenchman also represented Arsenal, Barcelona and Monaco while achieving terrific levels of success in a France shirt, winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with Les Bleus.
Ben Knapton
