Graeme Souness has warned Chelsea not to expect too much of their summer signings.
Highly rated ex-Ajax attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech started training with the squad at Cobham this week – and the Blues still have departing Leipzig striker Timo Werner to come.
Despite their combined cost of more than £80million, Liverpool legend Souness reminded Frank Lampard there is no guarantee the pair will manage to adjust to the Premier League.
The Sky Sports pundit explained: “Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech will be available for next season. Both come with good reputations but so did Alvaro Morata and he made no impression.”
He mentioned Morata – who scored 24 goals in two years at Chelsea – as an example of a player who failed to produce what Blues bosses had anticipated of him in English football.
Writing in The Sunday Times , Souness said: “Even Thierry Henry, one of the great overseas signings, took a season at Arsenal to adjust to the demands of the Premier League, so there is no guarantee that the Blues’ two new recruits will turn them into title contenders overnight."
The Blues paid £60million for Morata in 2017 but he was criticised for his sloppy displays up front before eventually being sold to Atletico Madrid for roughly the same price.
Souness fears Chelsea’s latest big-money buys are also something of a gamble and is equally unsure of whether existing midfielders Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic are up to scratch.
Souness said: “I would love to have played against Jorginho and Kovacic. The pair are good at keeping possession and easy on the eye but that is as far as it goes.”
“I wouldn’t have had to worry about them making runs in behind me because everything they do is in front of the opposition midfield.”
Chelsea are on course for a Champions League place in Lampard’s first season in charge – but if Souness is correct, they have work to do before challenging for the title.
