Chelsea must follow Arsenal’s example rather than Manchester United’s in the transfer market if they want to give Graham Potter the chance to succeed.
That’s the view of former Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and England striker Stan Collymore, who reckons the Blues’ new owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali must try to complement the best young players already at Stamford Bridge with the brightest prospects in Europe, rather than employ the ‘hotchpotch’ Galacticos approach United have taken in recent years.
Mirror Sport columnist Collymore said: “If Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz - and maybe even Raheem Sterling and Thiago Silva - are still at Chelsea next summer, then I will be absolutely stunned.
“Because what became crystal clear during the Blues’ Premier League defeat by Manchester City on Thursday was the fact that a huge clear-out is needed to give Potter his head to produce a truly exciting young team. I was massively impressed with midfielder Denis Zakaria, who is on loan from Juventus.
“And if he can back up that performance against the defending champions week in, week out, then it’s an absolute no-brainer to activate the £24million clause that would make him a Chelsea player full time.
“Then Potter would have him, Mason Mount and Reece James, as well Conor Gallagher, Carney Chukwuemeka, Omari Hutchinson and Trevoh Chalobah — a collection of young, hungry players who’d be the making of a very good team similarly to what we saw at Arsenal a couple of seasons ago.
“I look at the job Mikel Arteta has done in bringing his group on at the Emirates and see no reason why Potter can’t do the same across London. I mean, surely in this era of ‘let’s give a manager time’, Potter’s credentials mean he deserves every bit as much space as Arteta has been given by the Gunners.
“Potter has proved himself at Ostersunds, Swansea and Brighton, yet before Arsenal, Arteta had only ever been Pep Guardiola’s assistant. If you look at the business Chelsea have done transfer-wise of late, then it has been a bit of a hotchpotch.
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“It’s like Manchester United ’s strategy in recent years of, ‘Let’s throw names at a board and see which stick, and then we’ll try to work out how to make them play as a team’. Look how that has worked out for them and look how much Arsenal have benefited for the way they have done things.
“So, if Boehly and Eghbali are serious about the project they brought Potter in to oversee, then they should spend the next two transfer windows arming him with the best 21 to 24-year-olds from across Europe. They didn’t bring in an off-the-peg manager who would win them trophies straight away, they went for a young coach who could mould players and build a club.
“That’s why I’d now like to see them going toe-to-toe with Real Madrid and Barcelona for the brightest young talent on the continent. And if that means a couple of fallow years trophy-wise, so be it.
“Sometimes, you need to let crops mature, and I reckon Boehly and Co. would sacrifice winning, say, the FA Cup or another lesser trophy this season or next if in two years’ time they were challenging for Premier League titles and Champions League trophies again.
“So, no matter how good Chelsea think Cesar Azpilicueta, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Sterling and Co. could still be - and Sterling’s an odd one because I’m not sure whether Potter will fancy him or not - I’ve never been more convinced that they need a complete change of strategy to really move forwards.
“Once Potter has been give another year or so to shape the team how he wants it, then that will be the time to judge him and if Chelsea give him the time he needs - and deserves - I’ve no doubt he will prove he belongs up there at the top level."
