Graeme Souness sends warning to £250m Chelsea trio with Todd Boehly message
Graeme Souness has sent a warning to three Chelsea players who he believes must improve next season.
The Blues have endured a difficult season in the Premier League in Mauricio Pochettino’s first year as manager. Chelsea are currently 11th in the top-flight standings and 17 points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa with two games in hand.
Despite the concerns that have emerged across the season at Chelsea, the club still have the opportunity to win a major trophy. The Blues will face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final next month, where victory would set up a final against either Manchester United or Coventry.
Under the ownership of Todd Boehly, Chelsea have undergone a major revamp of the squad across the last two years. Souness has named three of those signings that he believes need to improve in the coming months.
Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo were signed for a combined total of £253 million. Souness, who won five league titles across his playing career, has sent a message to the Chelsea trio.
“The hierarchy at Chelsea and the supporters must be hoping that these new players are just taking a year to bed in and get a look at the Premier League and they’ll kick on,” Souness told talkSPORT.
“Enzo Fernandez [and] Moises Caicedo, they’re not really showing £100 million-player qualities right now. They have to improve. [Nicolas] Jackson up front has to improve.
“They [Chelsea] will be hoping this is another learning year for them. Not so much for Caicedo or Fernandez. Fernandez, this is his second season – Caicedo knows about the Premier League – so they have to up their game.
“I try to cut them some slack there, they’re young, but they have to start turning up. Jackson up front, he has to start turning up, and others.
“If they don’t, they [Chelsea] are going to have to go again in terms of spending money. Because for that group of players, if that’s their quality that they have shown this year, they’re a mid-table team.
“That won’t be acceptable to the current ownership or the Chelsea fanbase. They are a group of supporters who are used to seeing silverware on the team picture in August.”
