Chelsea are preparing to face Aston Villa at Villa Park, in their FA Cup fourth-round replay on Wednesday, February 7. The two teams played out a 0-0 draw last month at Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, the Blues are considering Xabi Alonso as a possible replacement for Mauricio Pochettino. Elsewhere, the London giants are not in talks to sign Nordi Mukiele.
On that note, let’s take a look at the major Chelsea transfer news from February 6, 2024.
Chelsea eyeing Xabi Alonso
Chelsea are interested in Xabi Alonso as a possible candidate to replace Mauricio Pochettino, according to Sports Zone.
The Argentinean manager took charge at Stamford Bridge last summer and has overseen a disastrous season so far. The Blues have struggled to impress despite investing a fortune in the squad. They are 11th in the Premier League after 23 games, with nine wins and ten defeats to their name.
The situation is a call to action for the club hierarchy and they believe that a change in management is the solution. Alonso has emerged as a candidate for the job after a stunning campaign with Bayer Leverkusen so far. His team are leading the Bundesliga title race after 20 games, and are playing attractive football as well.
The London giants are convinced Alonso can sort things out at Stamford Bridge and get them firing on all cylinders. However, Chelsea will face competition from Liverpool and Bayern Munich for the Spaniard.
Blues not in talks for Nordi Mukiele
Chelsea are not in talks to sign Nordi Mukiele, according to acclaimed journalist Fabrizio Romano. The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) right-back was heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge in the final days of the winter transfer window. However, Romano insists that the Blues were never in the race.
In his column for Caught Offside, the transfer guru added that Bayern Munich wanted the 26-year-old on loan, but the move failed to materialize.
“I’ve been asked how concrete the links were with Nordi Mukiele towards the end of January, but I can say there were no talks with Chelsea, news not confirmed. Bayern wanted Mukiele, as I reported at the time, but PSG were not open to accepting a loan move with buy option, they asked for an obligation or different conditions – that’s why the deal did not happen,” wrote Romano.
The London giants have been forced into the market for a new right-back following Reece James’ injury woes.
Former player slams midfield duo
Former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness has criticized Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.
The Argentine arrived at Stamford Bridge from Benfica in a reported £106.8m deal in January 2023 and has endured a mixed time so far. Meanwhile, Chelsea paid Brighton & Hove Albion £115m for Caicedo last summer, but the Ecuadorian has failed to live up to the price tag.
Speaking on The White and Jordan Show, Souness said that he was disappointed by the two players’ performances against the Reds last week.
“Chelsea are in trouble. Since the ownership change, it’s been a downward spiral. They’ve got a couple of young midfield players that may be good enough for them one day. They have spent over £100 million on both of them. I was sitting down last week watching the Liverpool game and as an old midfield player, that’s the first place I would look,” said Souness.
“I’m thinking, ‘I’ve not really seen these guys [Moises] Caceido and [Enzo] Fernandez’. I’m saying ‘Come on’ because I know Liverpool is a very difficult place for anyone to go and play. They’re going to be put under pressure every minute of the game. ‘Let’s see how they deal with it’. Didn’t turn up,” he added.
Souness went on to blame the Blues’ recruitment system for the poor state that the club are in right now.
“I’m not just blaming everything on those two but I think it’s been a succession of buying players for the sake of buying players. I think there’s a couple of players they bought believing that maybe Man City or Liverpool were interested in them. They weren’t buying them because they were the No 1 targets from 6-9 months, a year ago,” said Souness.
“They have gone out and spent money for the sake of spending money and they’ve made a pig’s ear of it. I’ll finish on this, they listen to the wrong people, whoever is advising them on football matters, they have given a masterclass on how not to do it. That’s Chelsea right now,” he concluded.
Chelsea are likely to further invest in their squad at the end of the season.
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