Chelsea's Marc Cucurella has taken aim at the club in a sensational interview while on international duty with Spain.
Chelsea have been in extremely poor form in recent weeks. Enzo Maresca was relieved of his duties at the start of the year, and it was hoped that his replacement, Liam Rosenior, could transform their fortunes.
However, he has not had the impact that many would have hoped. Chelsea have won just once in their last six matches in the Premier League and are now in danger of failing to qualify for next season's Champions League. The Blues were also humiliated by PSG in Europe's premier cup competition.
Enzo Fernandez has hinted he wants to leave Chelsea over the international break and now Cucurella has also spoken of his displeasure at ongoings at Chelsea in an eye-opening interview with the Athletic.
Marc Cucurella Questions Club's Transfer Policy
Marc Cucurella
Marc Cucurella
Chelsea's transfer policy under their current owners have raised eyebrows. The club have spent huge amounts of money on young players in the hope they can develop at the club and sell them for a profit in the future. They have prioritised doing this over signing experienced players.
Cucurella does not agree with this strategy and he's made his feelings very clear. He said: "Results like that [against PSG] are always hard to take. You are fighting and training every day only to realise, at the very end, that when games matter, we are still a bit away from the top level.
"I understand this is part of the club’s policy, and that they want to take this direction - signing young players and looking to the future. But, for all of us who are still here and want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.
"We have a good core of players. The foundations are there. But to fight for major trophies such as the Premier League or the Champions League, you need more. Signing young players only might complicate achieving those goals. Against PSG, we lacked players that had gone through situations like that.
"You need time as well, and I know the young players are the ones that will have the experience in the future. But you need to find the balance between both worlds."
Cucurella Slams Chelsea's Decision to Part Ways With Enzo Maresca
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca after losing to Manchester United
Cucurella, considered one of the best left-backs in the Premier League right now, also slammed the club for their decision to part ways with Maresca, who was extremely popular with Chelsea's players. He said:
"With Enzo Maresca in charge, we were more stable, because we worked together for 18 months. If you look at our first pre-season with him, there were doubts. You need a process for every player to understand what we need to do. In our last months with Maresca, we played almost by heart. If we changed the system, we knew what we had to do. You need that time.
"When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you’d die for him. The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision."
Cucurella added: "The instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell. We had a caretaker (former under-21s coach Calum McFarlane) first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them.
"To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season. You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full pre-season… Look at Arsenal now, who are fighting for every trophy. They’ve been with [Mikel] Arteta for almost seven years and they have not won much. But that trust in the project gives rewards."
Chelsea are currently sixth in the Premier League with seven matches left to play. They return to action on Saturday April 4 when they take on Port Vale in their FA Cup quarter-final clash.