Ian Wright names key element that means Chelsea won't rival Arsenal this season
Moises Caicedo is a great signing for Chelsea but won’t fix the problem preventing them from competing for the Premier League title this season, according to Ian Wright.
Chelsea have been busy in the summer transfer window, reshaping their squad for Mauricio Pochettino. The signing of Caicedo from Brighton, for a British transfer record fee of £115m, is the headline addition of a £250m splurge, which will increase further once the £58m capture of Romeo Lavia is announced.
The Blues are beginning a new era under Pochettino and showed promising signs in their opening game of the Premier League season, drawing 1-1 with Liverpool. But they scored just 38 goals in 38 league games last season in finishing 12th and former Arsenal striker Wright believes their lack of cutting edge up front will continue to hinder them.
“It’s a great move for Moises Caicedo, especially because he’ll be playing alongside Enzo Fernandez,” he told Premier League Productions. “I think Enzo and Caicedo will be the two in front of the defence that will really solidify it.
“But in respect of them being a challenge [to Man City and Arsenal], I don’t know who is going to score the goals for them. I think Chelsea will be in and around it. I still feel that Arsenal will be up there, without a shadow of a doubt.
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Moises Caicedo is Chelsea's marquee summer signing (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)HAVE YOUR SAY! Can Chelsea compete with Manchester City and Arsenal for the title this season? Comment below.
“You look at somebody like Caicedo in the Brighton midfield, how brilliant he was and how good their defensive record was. Even at Arsenal, they missed a player like Thomas Partey at the end of last season.
“Those defensive midfielders do so much for the team, not just breaking play up, but the way they can progress the ball as well. It’s a position if you are playing that brand of football, with a defensive midfielder, then he becomes one of the pivotal players – it’s a very, very important player in the system now.”
Chelsea lost £52m forward Christopher Nkunku to a serious knee injury earlier this month and fielded another new signing, Nicolas Jackson, up front against Liverpool. Jackson joined the Blues in a £32m deal from Villarreal and was lively last weekend, but is relatively inexperienced and will need support from the club’s array of other attackers.
While the club are expecting Pochettino to get more from the likes of Raheem Sterling and Mykhaylo Mudryk, they are also not done in the transfer window. "We are working in the market also, trying to find a solution, maybe short term, medium and long term to find the right profile for the team,” Pochettino said after Nkunku’s injury.
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