While the international break is usually a two-week window when clubs can relax and forget about the players who are away with their countries, this break has proved a problem for Chelsea.
Enzo Fernandez has been on a stream in Argentina saying he would like to live in Madrid, following a lot of speculation that he wants to move to Real Madrid, while Marc Cucurella kept the door open on a move to Barcelona and told The Athletic that he “would not have made the decision” to sack Enzo Maresca in January.
In Chelsea’s young squad, these are two of the more ‘senior’ players. Both seem unhappy, and Cucurella has now directly spoken out against the owners.
Chelsea have been operating under a consistent model and strategy since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took ownership of the club in May 2022.
They have always spent a lot of money in the transfer market, but have predominantly spent it on young players who could become great in the future.
The London side have spent around £1.5 billion in the four years since they took over, and there is no doubt that some of the signings have worked.
Cucurella, Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Estevao and Joao Pedro have all had positive impacts since joining and have all bettered Chelsea’s squad and first XI.
But those six players account for £440 million of the new owners’ total spend. The other £1 billion has been spent on players who either have not proven good enough to improve the team, have been sold on, or have not made much of a difference to overall squad quality.
Chelsea have only reached the knockout stages of the Champions League twice since May 2022, and the most recent occasion was this season against PSG.
They lost the game 8-2 on aggregate. Not only did the result pile pressure on manager Liam Rosenior, it clearly also made the players think about where this project is going.
Cucurella told The Athletic: “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 (8-2 v PSG) 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.”
While many fans, pundits, ex-players and journalists have had their say on Chelsea’s model and its shortcomings, this is the first time an active player has spoken out and made their feelings clear.
If Cucurella feels like this and is thinking about a possible move to Barcelona, and Fernandez reportedly has his sights set on Real Madrid, who is to say other players are also not thinking about leaving?
There have been persistent rumours this season that Cole Palmer misses Manchester and would not turn down a move to his favourite boyhood club Manchester United.
Chelsea’s top players want to see progression on the pitch, and that has not happened this year.
Last season was a success. No one would deny that. Maresca, the manager appointed in the summer of 2024, won the Conference League, Club World Cup and secured qualification for the Champions League for the first time under the new owners, and all in his first season.
There was clear progression, and it looked as though Chelsea’s project was finally paying dividends.
But this campaign has seen major regression. Maresca left in January after a falling out with the hierarchy, Chelsea were dumped unceremoniously out of the Champions League by PSG, and with seven league games left, Champions League qualification again looks in the balance.
Last year Chelsea only confirmed UCL qualification on the final day of the Premier League season, and they are currently sixth, at the time of writing, and face a tough battle to again secure entry to Europe’s premier competition.
They have also only won four of their last 12 games in all competitions, and Rosenior, who was only appointed in January, is already coming under major pressure.
With an unhappy fanbase, a constant churn of managers, and now current players making their feelings known, this may be the summer when Chelsea are forced to finally change their strategy.