Chelsea

Chelsea

Premier League • England

Chelsea advised to ditch two big summer signings that ‘look lost’ and are not good enough for Graham Potter

Graham Potter manager of Chelsea applauds the fans during the Premier League match at Villa Park, Birmingham

Graham Potter is being tipped to can two of Chelsea’s more prominent summer signings at the first available opportunity with neither deemed good enough for the Blues and despite their huge transfer fees.

The 47-year-old has made an excellent start to life in the Stamford Bridge hotseat, ironically losing his first game since taking charge at former club Brighton on Saturday. The manner of their 4-1 defeat, however, raises plenty of question marks over several players in the Chelsea side.

As such, the Blues boss has reportedly been assured that he will be granted funds to shape the squad as he sees fit in 2023.

Potter engineered an exciting and high-quality side while at Brighton and with a limited budget at his disposal. However, with Chelsea’s enormous wealth behind him, he is being tipped to help the Blues challenge Manchester City’s Premier League domination if given time.

The most pressing issues for Potter lie in midfield. Both Jorginho and N’Golo Kante are out of contract at the end of the season. And while Jorginho’s first priority is to stay, Sunday’s Transfer Gossip claims Kante could depart for an all-too familar destination.

As such, new arrivals will likely come in that area should both or either depart.

But they might not be the only players to exit Stamford Bridge either. That’s after pundit Tony Cascarino named to talkSPORT the two high-profile summer 2022 arrivals who he reckons are likely to be ditched.

Per Cascarino, the performance of second-half substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will have the Blues boss extremely worried.

“I’m not even sure Aubameyang is a player Chelsea will be looking at into next season,” he said.

Aubameyang will be cast aside by Potter at Chelsea

“I think what will happen is what happened to him at Barcelona. They brought him to the club, got a big signing, then realised quite quickly they need to move away to a better striker.

“I think Chelsea will have to do that as a football club. They’ll come away from Aubameyang by the end of the season and they’ll look for an alternative without a doubt.”

Another summer arrival who Cascarino is worried about is Cucurella. Chelsea spent a mammoth £58.7m luring him from Brighton over the summer.

But the Spaniard has struggled to replicate his form for the Seagulls and looks a little out of his depth at Stamford Bridge so far.

And having featured in 15 games already, he’s had plenty of chances to impress.

But Cascarino is unimpressed and believes he could also be ditched by Potter.

Reflecting on Saturday’s loss at the AMEX, Cascarino added: “Chelsea had mistakes everywhere. It’s hard to identify one player or go for a scapegoat. The whole team were well off their pace in the game.

“Even players like Cucurella [were] all over the place, he really was. He looked like he didn’t know where to be.

“He’s a £62million signing that Chelsea have made. He may have suffered a because Graham Potter brought him off before half-time [against Manchester United] and changed systems with him.

“He looks like a guy that’s completely lost being at a big club at the moment.”

Potter will mould his side his way – but Cucurella will improve

While the criticisms of Cucurella are fair, in time he should become a big player for Chelsea. The weight of expectation on his shoulders will be huge after such a high-profile move – and he’s struggled to justify that so far.

Too often at the AMEX, he was turned inside and out with his former teammate Solly March giving him a torrid time.

However, it’s still a period of adjustment for Cucurella. And in time, once he gets used to his new surroundings, he will surely become a star for the Blues.

Having Potter to guide him too, his former manager at Brighton – will surely also help.

That said, the Solihull-born coach will want to make changes to his line-up. Like Thomas Tuchel before him, Potter has found that Chelsea tend to operate more effectively without a recognised centre forward.

Finding that one player who can lead the line and knit together their attack will be one of Potter’s major aims. To that end, it’s quite possible that Aubameyang will only be a stop-gap measure.

At 33-year-of-age, Aubameyang won’t go on forever. And if the Blues do sign another striker, his time at Chelsea could be over almost as quickly as his spell at Barcelona was.

READ MORE

Chelsea star who’s said ‘yes’ to Newcastle urged to reconsider, as Tuchel claim is branded ‘utter claptrap’

Five players Graham Potter could try and sign for Chelsea in the January transfer window: Caicedo, Nkunku…