Chelsea told they have made another transfer mistake with £44 million signing
Enzo Maresca has already been armed with two new signings before the transfer window has officially opened (Picture: Getty) William Gallas fears Chelsea have made another significant error in the transfer market by committing another £44 million on an unproven youngster in Geovany Quenda. Sporting Lisbon confirmed on Wednesday night that both Quenda and Dario Essugo were bound for the Premier League club in a double deal that will be worth £62.5m. The 17-year-old Quenda, who was a Manchester United target, will remain at his current club until the end of next season to continue his development. Gallas, however, is concerned Chelsea’s owners are putting to much stock in building for the future rather than addressing the obvious and glaring holes in Enzo Maresca’s squad. Chelsea’s limp performance in a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal last weekend again highlighted the lack of attacking options currently available to a manager who appeared to have his club on the right track during an impressive start to his tenure. Get personalised updates on Chelsea every day Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. Newcastle and Manchester City are now firmly on the Blues’ coattails in the race for Champions League qualification and regardless of whether entry to Europe’s top tier competition is achieved, Gallas believes his old club would be much better served by adding experience to a group of young, promising but largely unproven players. ‘I still don’t understand why Chelsea are signing only young players,’ he said.’It looks like it’s an investment on the young players. They buy that young player for that price and then they sell him for more money. ‘But at the moment, I don’t know if Chelsea have the opportunity to do that. They have already bought some young players, but the young players they have bought, I don’t think that their value has gone up. Geovany Quenda will spend next season at Sporting Lisbon (Picture: Getty) Chelsea initially tried to sign Essugo in January (Picture: Getty Images) ‘So it looks like they are making mistakes. Don’t forget that this generation is completely different, when you put so much money into the young players it’s not the same as 20, 30 or 40 years ago. ‘For young players, it’s very difficult for them to deal with all that pressure, celebrity things off the pitch and their performance on the pitch. Sometimes it’s not the same. ‘So if you want to invest you have to be sure, but nobody is sure right now. ‘It’s 50-50. I don’t know how many millions Chelsea have invested already. But I think they are losing more than they are gaining.’ While the plan for Quenda has already been mapped out, Chelsea’s intentions where Essugo is concerned are a little less clear. The 20-year-old is currently on loan at Las Palmas and although he has shown signs of promise but his rawness has been exposed recently with two red cards in his last four matches representing a concern. Essugo could, ultimately, provide back-up and competition for Moises Caicedo and he could yet feature in June’s Club World Cup tournament in the United States.
William Gallas fears Chelsea have made another significant error in the transfer market by committing another £44 million on an unproven youngster in Geovany Quenda.
Sporting Lisbon confirmed on Wednesday night that both Quenda and Dario Essugo were bound for the Premier League club in a double deal that will be worth £62.5m.
The 17-year-old Quenda, who was a Manchester United target, will remain at his current club until the end of next season to continue his development.
Gallas, however, is concerned Chelsea’s owners are putting to much stock in building for the future rather than addressing the obvious and glaring holes in Enzo Maresca’s squad.
Chelsea’s limp performance in a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal last weekend again highlighted the lack of attacking options currently available to a manager who appeared to have his club on the right track during an impressive start to his tenure.
Get personalised updates on Chelsea every day
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
Newcastle and Manchester City are now firmly on the Blues’ coattails in the race for Champions League qualification and regardless of whether entry to Europe’s top tier competition is achieved, Gallas believes his old club would be much better served by adding experience to a group of young, promising but largely unproven players.
‘I still don’t understand why Chelsea are signing only young players,’ he said.’It looks like it’s an investment on the young players. They buy that young player for that price and then they sell him for more money.
‘But at the moment, I don’t know if Chelsea have the opportunity to do that. They have already bought some young players, but the young players they have bought, I don’t think that their value has gone up.
‘So it looks like they are making mistakes. Don’t forget that this generation is completely different, when you put so much money into the young players it’s not the same as 20, 30 or 40 years ago.
‘For young players, it’s very difficult for them to deal with all that pressure, celebrity things off the pitch and their performance on the pitch. Sometimes it’s not the same.
‘So if you want to invest you have to be sure, but nobody is sure right now.
‘It’s 50-50. I don’t know how many millions Chelsea have invested already. But I think they are losing more than they are gaining.’
While the plan for Quenda has already been mapped out, Chelsea’s intentions where Essugo is concerned are a little less clear.
The 20-year-old is currently on loan at Las Palmas and although he has shown signs of promise but his rawness has been exposed recently with two red cards in his last four matches representing a concern.
Essugo could, ultimately, provide back-up and competition for Moises Caicedo and he could yet feature in June’s Club World Cup tournament in the United States.
