Despite spending billions, Chelsea boss Pochettino claims “we’re a little short... we don’t have players”

Chelsea continue to wade through their wobbly season. After losing in the final of the Carabao Cup in a heartbreaking extra-time defeat against Liverpool, Mauricio Pochettino’s team had to come back from behind and wait until the last minute to get past Leeds United in the FA Cup just 72 hours later.

Although Chelsea were able to save themselves from embarrassment against the side from the second division, Pochettino’s lack of reserves in the engine room are beginning to take its toll. Enzo Fernández and Moisés Caicedo are the mainstays in the London side, but without somebody to take the baton, the minutes are beginning to tally up for the duo.

“I think we are shorter, a little bit, in the squad”, Pochettino claimed, “because we have a big squad, but at the minute there are 10-12 always injured players, and look, Enzo and Moi Caicedo, they are playing and playing and playing... We don’t have players that we can sub and give them rest.” The two players mentioned cost over £200 million.

“I know that it was maybe a surprise with the changes, but it was because we needed to give rest”, he added. Between the Ecuadorian and the Argentine they have played a total of 5,118 minutes (2,611 and 2,507, respectively) this season across 33 games.

While the World Cup winner has started 2024 in fantastic form after a slow first half of the season, the former Brighton man is still searching for his place in the middle. Caicedo’s first season has been marked by occasional errors, but the club has kept faith in his development and he continues to keep his place in the side.

Although since the beginning of the season both were considered undisputed starters, given their price, the reality is that Chelsea’s plan B has not ended up working. The substitutes - Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu or Carney Chukwuemeka - have not been able to see any minutes due to injuries, especially the former Southampton player who has played just 30 minutes so far this season.

Chelsea have become one of the biggest movers in the recent transfer markets, spending over €1 billion. While Financial Fair Play will force the club to balance the accounts with million-euro sales, some still think that the Blues need more muscle in their engine room. The club’s bet is to give a chance to the many loan players after buying back Cesare Casadei from Leicester and re-signing Andrey Santos from Strasbourg, a club also owned by Boehly.

The list of future targets for the Londoners is made up of two names: Bruno Guimarães and Frenkie De Jong. According to AS, the club had already sounded out the possibility of bringing in the Brazilian last summer, but they did not make an official offer. Next summer he will be one of the names the club will have in mind, with his departure from Newcastle a real possibility. As for the Dutch midfielder, he would be one of the victims in order to balance the delicate accounts of FC Barcelona, although no offer has been made as of yet.