Pochettino’s £1bn Chelsea ‘Disneyland’ team includes Arsenal star

Mauricio Pochettino previews Chelsea's clash with Nottingham Forest

Mauricio Pochettino has warned his players that while Chelsea spending has passed the £1 billion mark, nobody is living in Disneyland. That said, failure after this sort of outlay would make them the ultimate Mickey Mouse club.

So it is strange that after so much money spent that Todd Boehly does not have more genuine A-listers to show for it. It’s certainly not the way that other American businessman, Walt Elias Disney, would have gone about the project.

When he wished, it was upon a star. Preferably several.Forget having to choose between Harry Kane and Erling Haaland up front. Play both of them. After all, you could have Lionel Messi and Neymar providing them with plenty of ammunition.

A team capable of winning the league, the Champions League and the Ballon D’Or. And perhaps a few more Oscars for the mantelpiece. All the major names in the squad here have moved for the prices shown since the new Chelsea owners took over. Money, it turns out, the London club could afford after the spending topped the billion-pound mark.

Instead, they reached the magical mark by signing Cole Palmer, a 21-year-old striker costing £45m who still has not scored a single Premier League goal. For all the cash that has been splashed, manager Pochettino has been left with, at best, the promise that some hard work from his players might one day lead to a riches-to-trophies Cinderella tale.

“Now we need to work and to improve over the next year,” the Argentine warned. “We cannot just sell the idea that we are in a Walt Disney World here, because all is pink. No, we need to work very hard and not just rely on the club spending money. And what we cannot do is say things that are not right. We need to be careful. Okay, we are spending but we are building for the future also. Not only for the present.” Mr Disney was certainly not one to ignore the kids, either..

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Yet, it is possible over the last 15 months to have built a full mix of home-grown and international players supplemented with a handful of those kids from the club to form a 25 that ticks all of the Premier League and UEFA boxes even with all the stellar names. Of course, Pochettino knows what it is like to try to buy success instantly having worked at PSG, where he would head out to sessions to see Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Sergio Ramos warming up. When he wanders out across the playing fields of Cobham, does he really see a £1bn squad in front of him?

“Yes. No…” he says. “Yes, no…” he repeats, even less certainly.The problem is that we invest today but maybe we will only be rewarded in a few years. I need just to make sure I am still here, because for all the sacrifice and effort I am making today I still want to be here when the good things happen. The talented players they have it is only a matter of time before they start performing and when they are at their best they are going to have an amazing team.” Or as Disney said, “Even miracles take a little time.” 

(4-2-4) From To £ Date
Robert Sanchez Brighton Chelsea £25m (05/8/23)

Joao Cancelo* Man City Barcelona? loan (01/9/23?)
Josko Gvardiol RB Leipzing Man City £78m (05/8/23)
Min-Jae Kim Napoli B Munich £43m (18/7/23)
Destiny Udogie Udinese Tottenham £15m (16/8/22)

Declan Rice West Ham Arsenal £105m (15/7/23)
Jude Bellingham B Dortmund Real Madrid £114m (15/6/23)

Neymar PSG Al-Hilal £86m (15/8/23)
Harry Kane Tottenham B Munich £100m (12/8/23)
Lionel Messi PSG Inter Miami free (16/7/23)

Erling Haaland B Dortmund Man City £51m (13/6/23)

SUBS
Nick Pope Burnley Newcastle £12m (24/6/22)
Matthijs De Ligt Juventus B Munich £68m (19/7/22)
Pau Torres Villareal Aston Villa £33m (12/7/23)
Aurelien Tchoumani Monaco Real Madrid £86m (11/6/22)
James Maddison Leicester Tottenham £40m (29/6/23)
Filip Kostic E Frankfurt Juventus £11m (12/8/22)
Mohammed Kudus Ajax West Ham £38m (27/8/23)
Ousmane Dembele Barcelona PSG £44m (12/8/23)
Gabriel Jesus Man City Arsenal £45m (04/7/22)
Marcus Bettinelli already on books 0
Reece James already on books 0
Ben Chilwell already on books 0
Levi Colwell already on books 0
Conor Gallagher already on books 0

OVERALL TOTAL £996 million

*Loan agreed – awaiting Barcelona funding to clear

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