Chelsea

Chelsea

Premier League • England

Souness rips into Chelsea for ‘strange’ deadline day signing; second pundit orders Blues to sign Mbappe

Graeme Souness June 2022

Graeme Souness, June 2022

Graeme Souness has said that he ‘doesn’t understand’ why Chelsea paid £42.5m to sign Cole Palmer from Manchester City on deadline day. 

The 21-year-old was always highly-rated at the Etihad, but was unable to break into Pep Guardiola’s starting XI.

Palmer made 41 appearances in all competitions for Man City, scoring six goals and making two assists in the process. Admittedly though, the vast majority of the time he was used as a substitute.

The youngster still managed to two score a goal in both the UEFA Super Cup Final and the Community Shield at the start of this season, so there is no doubt that he can perform at the highest level.

Palmer will now be hoping for more first-team opportunities at Chelsea under Mauricio Pochettino. He is versatile, too, with the ability to play as a winger or as an attacking midfielder.

With that in mind, he will provide cover in several areas for the Blues this season.

READ MORE: James Maddison: Main reason why Chelsea passed on signing £40m Tottenham playmaker revealed

Souness slams ‘strange’ Palmer signing

Despite his quality and potential to improve even more, Souness has admitted that the Palmer’s move to Chelsea “strikes him as strange.”

“Chelsea’s decision to spend £42.5million on Cole Palmer, a 21-year-old with three Premier League starts, strikes me as strange and extremely bold,” Souness told The Daily Mail.

“It might all come together for Chelsea, who are spending a fortune on players of enormous potential who one day, with a big question mark attached, might be top men for them.

“Their supporters, like all others, want instant success. After a miserable season, they will have limited patience and won’t be slow in venting their frustration. I can see where they’re coming from.”

Nottingham Forest beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, much to the frustration of their supporters. Gabriel Agbonlahor blamed the Blues’ defeat on a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal.

“What I don’t understand with Chelsea is that they had 21 shots and guess how many on target? Two,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT.

“They’re getting into the positions but they just don’t have the quality and it seems to be a theme now.

“You look on social media and the story is that Chelsea sign players but they lose games.

“They’ve spent £1billion. Why didn’t Chelsea use a quarter of that money and go out and buy a star? Go and give Paris Saint-Germain an offer for Mbappe that they can’t refuse.”

With the transfer window now closed, however, Chelsea will have to make do with what they’ve got, and Pochettino will hope that the addition of Palmer will help turn their form around.

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