Chelsea have spent an eye-watering £553m on 17 new players so far
Gary Lineker jokingly said that Chelsea “could become a threat” if they spend even more money this summer.
Chelsea are ninth in the Premier League after a goalless draw at home to Fulham on Friday leaves them 10 points adrift of the Champions League spots.
The Blues have invested heavily in their playing squad since Todd Boehly’s consortium completed their £4.25bn takeover in April.
An eye-watering £553m has been spent on 17 new players so far – eight of those arriving in January – as the west London club desperately try to change their fortunes.
They aren’t set to slow down either with reports that Christopher Nkunku will join from RB Leipzig in a £52m deal in the summer continue to emerge.
Their lavish spending has led to criticism and taunts from opposition clubs and Lineker himself joined in the pile-on with a small jibe at the two-time European champions.
“If Chelsea are prepared to spend big in the summer they could become a threat,” he tweeted.
If Chelsea are prepared to spend big in the summer they could become a threat.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) February 3, 2023
Graham Potter has also warned his new signings that they will face more criticism than others due to the price tags they paid for them.
After his side’s draw at Stamford Bridge, he said: “We need to improve as a team.
“If you look back 18 months, Chelsea were not scoring and they thought they would spend close to £100m on a centre-forward and that would fix all the problems and it didn’t. You have to act better as a team. That’s our challenge. That’s what we need to do.
“I don’t think anyone could give you a timescale. If I could get a month for every time I was asked that question I would be here for five years.”
Chelsea travel to the east side of London to face West Ham United in their next fixture before resuming their Champions League campaign against Borussia Dortmund.
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- Chelsea fire back and explain why Hakim Ziyech’s PSG move collapsed
