Pochettino is right to be worried about €250m pair
Robin Bairner
- 9 Dec 2023 05:28 CST
- 4 min read
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino says that he is “worried” about the performances of midfield duo Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo – and he is right to be.
The pair are Chelsea’s most expensive signings ever, with Enzo arriving from Benfica in January 2023 for €121 million and Caicedo following seven months later from Brighton for a fee of €116m.
Despite this lavish outlay, the Blues have struggled to fire once again in the Premier League, with the Stamford Bridge side well off the pace in 10th, 11 points behind Manchester City in fourth and with barely half the marks accumulated by leaders and rivals Arsenal.
“The relationship between them needs to improve, between them and individually,” he claimed.
“They are young. The expectation is massive when you arrive. It's not only the individual expectation but the collective expectation at a club like Chelsea. It is not easy, arriving not in the best place to perform quickly because they need to be part of the solution. They are not the cherry on the cake.
“When you arrive in a team in a building process and you’re young with not too much experience, even if you have good quality and people can see the club paid big money and only for that you need to perform.”
Pochettino did add that he believes the pair will come good, yet he is right to harbour concerns. He added that the situation is "a process" and is only questioned by those who don't know football, but given he is effectively Chelsea's fourth manager in 15 months, this is a lame defence. His ob will soon be on the line if there is no imminent improvement in his expensively assembled squad.
Instead, Chelsea’s transfer policy is once again questionable in both deals.
Chelsea paying the price for overpaying
The decision to buy Enzo for €121m in January appeared a particularly ludicrous deal given that he was available for around €10m just months before when he was signed by Benfica.
Five months of strong performances should not equate to such a radical rise in value, and when Chelsea signed the 22-year-old, his Expected Transfer Value (ETV) was still only around the €24m mark. It has since risen to €64m, but there is little doubt that the evidence is that he is another player the Blues have dramatically overpaid for.
Caicedo offers a similar but less dramatic example. Signed for €116m, his ETV is presently €86m, still a full €30m short of what Chelsea paid for him.
Beyond the immediate impact on the team, there is also the long-term consequences of the deal. Most obviously, there are Financial Fair Play (FFP) implications for the Blues, but they also have a reputation for being a club that overspends, making future negotiations difficult.
Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo remain quality players, as their ETVs suggest, yet after spending too much on the pair, Chelsea are likely to suffer from these deals for transfer windows to come.
