‘Pochettino will be excited by Chelsea squad – he just needs SIX new signings’

Robin Bairner

• 27 May 2023 11:00 BST
• 3 min read

Mauricio Pochettino will be “excited” with the Chelsea squad he will have to work with next season, according to Paul Scholes, but the Manchester United star has claimed that there is still major renovation work to be done, with as many as SIX new signings required to make them competitive.

Chelsea have endured a remarkable season for all the wrong reasons.

Since being taken over by Todd Boehly little over a year ago, the Blues has spent a record sum in the transfer market but find themselves in the lower half of the Premier League table.

MORE: Boehly chaos at Chelsea SCARES OFF transfer target

Scholes believes that Pochettino, should he take the job, has some thrilling raw materials to work with.

“I think if I was a coach going to Chelsea, I’d be excited about what’s there. I think there’s a lot of real talent,” Scholes told the Premier League.

MORE: Chelsea star drops exit hint as he CELEBRATES Man Utd’s destruction of Blues

Pochettino will be busy in the transfer market

However, he appeared to contradict himself by giving Pochettino a long shopping list of areas that need to be improved over the summer.

“I think he’s going to have to buy a couple of centre-halves, possibly a right-back, possibly a left-back, a whole new back four,” he said of Chelsea’s next manager, which looks destined to be Pochettino.

“I’m not sure about either goalkeeper.

“I always look at a team and I’m excited when they create chances. I think adding a centre-forward to that, they’re always going to create chances and if you can score goals, you’ve always got a chance.”

Chelsea, meanwhile, need to score nine times to ensure they do not finish the season with the club’s lowest ever goals tally – clearly an impossible task for Frank Lampard’s side.

Pochettino may very well be excited at the prospect of bouncing back into a big job, but Scholes’ words simply underline the scale of the task required getting Chelsea back up the Premier League table.