Former Blue Frank Leboeuf is the Chelsea oracle for many people. He has not been afraid to speak out about this ownership and their poor decisions right from the start, and he’s been proved right time and again.
Today he was lamenting the decisions that led to the club missing out on experienced Premier League players available for bargain prices last summer.
“In the summer, Chelsea should’ve signed James Maddison and James Ward-Prowse, players that cost little money compared to what they spent but could’ve brought so much [to the team],” the former defender said in quotes picked up by the Metro today.
“I don’t understand why the club would ignore them. Pochettino said this week as well that his players maybe didn’t have the maturity to play in a tight schedule and he’s speaking the truth.
“Spending money doesn’t mean spending crazy money again. Going back to Maddison and Ward-Prowse, they don’t cost a lot and they bring more experience.”
Maddison has been brilliant for Tottenham, slotting right in and lifting the team’s levels instantly. Apart from a period out injured, he’s been a consistently excellent presence in the team.
The same is true of Ward-Prowse, who has helped West Ham instantly fill the hole left by Declan Rice. The pair of them were signed for £70m total , according to the same Metro article.
Fan reaction to English signings
Given how things have gone with the midfielders Chelsea did actually sign, it’s hard to disagree with Leboeuf’s take. We can only imagine the furious online reaction from Chelsea fans had we bought Premier League stalwarts rather than fancy, shin new foreign imports, but it likely wouldn’t have been good.
Ultimately, whatever you think of James Ward-Prowse’s “ceiling” the reality of having him in the team all year would have been significantly better than having the ghost of Romeo Lavia – and significantly cheaper too.
The bonus effect of signing experienced Premier League players is that they can help those around them. Having this pair in the team would likely have helped some of our other signings hit the ground running and improve a lot faster.
