£200m Chelsea duo 'frustrated' with teammates

Stuart Telford

• 16 Dec 2023 18:51 GMT
• 3 min read

Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo look to be growing 'frustrated' by their Chelsea teammates, according to Gabby Agbonlahor.

Fernandez and Caicedo are Chelsea's two most expensive signings off all time, the former costing €121 million when he joined from Benfica last winter; the latter a potential £100m (€116m) when he followed him to Stamford Bridge from Brighton in August.

A potentially brilliant central midfield partnership, the pair have both come in for criticism this season with the Blues just 10th in the Premier League table, 15 points behind leaders Liverpool having played a game more.

That fixture was a 2-0 win over Sheffield United in which Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson both scored, but those players are more culpable than Fernandez and Caicedo for Chelsea's recent malaise, according to Agbonlahor.

Chelsea's attack 'frustrating for midfielders'

"[They’re] not value for money because the amount they spent on them, but Caicedo and Fernandez are top, top players," the former England forward told talkSPORT. "But they're too inconsistent.

"When you watch them they look like they’re getting a bit frustrated. They win the ball back and give it to Palmer. Palmer counter-attacks, you've got Jackson and [Mykhailo] Mudryk. They're so erratic up front and it must be frustrating for midfielders."

Of the three players singled out, Mudryk has been by far the worst, statistically. While Palmer and Jackson have five and six goals to their name respectively, Mudryk has only scored twice from 15 Premier League appearances.

The chances of Chelsea offloading the Ukrainian, or indeed any other underperformer, anytime soon, have been harmed by the long-term deals handed out to the new arrivals by Todd Boehly.

Seven- and eight-year contracts may have helped the Blues avoid certain FFP penalties, but it runs the risk of players sitting in the reserves and picking up a fat paycheck should they fall out of favour.