The former England international is adamant that the current Chelsea squad lacks the internal leadership required to compete at the highest level. By bringing in Stones and Lewandowski, Cole argues that Alonso would be installing "coaches on the pitch" who can mentor the club's younger stars through difficult moments in big matches.
"They just need what I’ve been saying for two or three years, where you have experience around them within the group that helps them through games to coach them, whilst on the pitch to give them their wisdom, you know, and build it out that way," Cole added. "And then you bring in your John Stones and Robert Lewandowski and players on a free transfer who don’t need to play every minute of every game, but they understand winning, they understand culture and they can still help out in the pitch and do bits."