‘I see him at Real Madrid.’

Owen Hargreaves has named the two signings Chelsea need to take the next step and win the Premier League or Champions League.

The Blues finished fourth in the Premier League last season, 15 points behind champions Liverpool.

Enzo Maresca’s side threatened to push Liverpool all the way during an impressive first-half to the season but fell away after Christmas.

Chelsea beat the likes of PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to win the Club World Cup over the summer and also enjoyed a productive transfer window, spending over £300m on new signings.

The Stamford Bridge board hoped the new additions would help Chelsea challenge for the Premier League title this season but that already looks doubtful.

Chelsea have won two, drawn two and lost two of their first six games in the league, slipping seven points behind defending champions and early pacesetters Liverpool.

In the Champions League, the west Londoners have six points after two games, following up an opening defeat to Bayern Munich with a narrow win over Jose Mourinho’s Benfica.

Despite Chelsea’s incredible spending in recent years, Hargreaves is still of the belief that a ‘world-class goalkeeper’ and an ‘experienced centre-back’ is needed for the Blues to win major silverware.

‘If Chelsea want to go and win the Premier League and the Champions League, they need a world-class keeper and an experienced centre-back,’ Hargreaves told TNT Sports.

‘For the centre-back, a player like [PSG and Brazil legend] Marquinhos to help these young players along the way.’

Joe Cole agreed that Chelsea would benefit from strengthening in those two positions but warned that the club’s owners are unlikely to deviate from their current transfer strategy.

‘That’s what everyone wanted,’ said Stamford Bridge hero Cole in response to Hargreaves’ assessment.

‘What the club are trying to do is work and develop young players. That’s all well and good.

‘They’re waiting for Robert Sanchez to come to the level, he did have a good Club World Cup and started the season well before that red card [in the defeat to Manchester United].

‘Chelsea fans need to get their heads around this because the club are going down this route and are going to stick with it.’

A number of pundits have speculated that Chelsea will struggle to compete for the Premier League or Champions League without a new goalkeeper.

Jamie Carragher says it was a big mistake not to sign a replacement for Robert Sanchez over the summer, especially as the club held talks with France goalkeeper Mike Maignan and knew Gianluigi Donnarumma was available.

‘The glaring flaws last season were in goal and at centre-half,’ Carragher wrote in a column for The Telegraph. ‘Despite 12 new arrivals over the summer, those areas remain the Achilles’ heel.

‘Chelsea were linked with AC Milan’s French keeper Mike Maignan, but the message was they were not prepared to pay more than £12m. Why not?

‘Manchester City showed what ambitious clubs do when an obvious issue needs sorting out, signing Gianluigi Donnarumma.

‘Why were Chelsea not part of the conversation for the PSG keeper? He could have been a transformative signing for them.’

After returning to winning ways against Benfica, Chelsea will look to clinch their first Premier League win since August 30 this weekend when Liverpool visit Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool won their first seven games of the season before suffering rare back-to-back defeats to Crystal Palace in the Premier League and Galatasaray in the Champions League.

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Alejandro Garnacho joined Chelsea from Manchester United over the summer (Picture: TNT Sports)

Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho says he experienced a ‘bad moment in life’ after being exiled by his former Manchester United mana…

Paul Merson admits he has been shocked by Mason Mount’s struggles at Manchester United given he was ‘unbelievable’ at Chelsea.

Mount established himself as a key player at boyhood club Chelsea after being given his first real chance by Blues legend Frank Lampard.

The midfielder made at least 50 appearances in three successive seasons at Stamford Bridge and helped Thomas Tuchel’s side win the Champions League in 2021.

Mount confirmed he was leaving Stamford Bridge in an emotional social media post in the summer of 2023 after spending 18 years at the club.

Manchester United emerged as the frontrunners to secure Mount’s signature and ended up bringing him to Old Trafford in a deal worth £60m.

Much was expected of the England star, especially after he took the No. 7 shirt previously won by all-time great Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Mount’s first season at United was hindered by injury issues and he continued to struggle last term, scoring just one Premier League goal.

Fortunately for Mount he appears to still have the support of under-fire Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim, who has used him in five of the club’s opening six league games this season.

But Mount faces a major battle to revive his Old Trafford career, particularly following a summer in which attacking midfielders Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo arrived at the club.

Merson says Mount has ‘probably had two good games’ for Manchester United and believes his struggles highlight the pressures of playing for the Red Devils.

‘I don’t think people understand how big the club is,’ Arsenal legend and ex-England winger Merson said on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.

‘They get signed for big money and they come in. I’m a Chelsea fan and Mason Mount was unbelievable for us, unbelievable!

‘He goes to Man United and he’s probably had two good games in two seasons and can’t even stay fit.’

Mount was used as a late substitute in Manchester United’s 3-1 defeat to Brentford on Saturday.

Despite a poor start to the season, United appear ready to stick with Amorim and have dismissed rumours they have already started lining up replacements for the former Sporting manager.

Discussing Amorim’s prospects, Merson added: ‘I don’t like seeing managers getting sacked but there’s just no flexibility is there?

‘He plays this system but he doesn’t have the players for it. You can play players out of position when you’re at Sporting because you’re not playing against top teams week in week out and that’s what he’s underestimated at United.’

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes, meanwhile, admitted he would not have been surprised had Amorim lost his job in the aftermath of the Brentford loss.

‘We talk about Ruben Amorim and his job and we all say we don’t like seeing managers get sacked,’ said Scholes, who lifted 11 Premier League titles during his time at Old Trafford.

‘But if he got sacked yesterday, we would all sit here and probably be thinking it felt like time.’

Manchester United’s patience with Amorim will truly be put to the test if they fail to beat newly-promoted Sunderland at home next weekend.

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Jose Mourinho admits he would love to have Chelsea winger Pedro Neto at Benfica as he prepares for an emotional return to Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho was appointed as Benfica manager earlier this month and takes the Portuguese side to Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

The 62-year-old, who was recently sacked by Turkish giants Fenerbahce, won three Premier League titles across his two spells in charge of Chelsea.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Mourinho said he would ‘always be a Blue’ but insisted he was still determined to lead Benfica to a European win.

‘I will always be a Blue,’ said Mourinho, who has won two and drawn one of his first three games back at Benfica, the club where he began his managerial career in 2000.

‘I am part of their history. They are part of my history. I helped them to become a bigger Chelsea, and they helped me to become a bigger Jose.

‘It will be my Chelsea before the start of the game and after the game but during the game it’s my Benfica and that’s all that matters.

‘When I say I am not a Blue, I am only speaking about the job I have to do tomorrow.’

Mourinho embraced several journalists and Chelsea employees at his press conference on Monday.

As well as managing the Blues, Mourinho had spells at Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Porto, Manchester United, Tottenham and Roma.

‘After 25 years [of coaching] I was expecting to go back to Portugal through the national team, not Benfica,’ Mourinho added.

‘I’m back to Benfica so I don’t have a career project. I don’t try to think what can happen or what cannot happen.

‘The important thing is giving everything. Now I’m in Benfica and very happy. It’s a big responsibility, Benfica is a huge responsibility for different reasons.’

Chelsea winger Neto spoke glowingly of Mourinho ahead of the Champions League clash against Benfica.

Enzo Maresca’s side were beaten by Bayern Munich in their Champions League opener, while Benfica lost 3-2 to Qarabag before Bruno Lage was sacked and replaced by Mourinho.

‘As a Portuguese player it will be a pride to play against a manager like Jose Mourinho,’ said Neto, who completed a £54m move from Wolves in 2024.

‘He gave us an opportunity to go around the world and play in the best clubs and for managers to coach the best clubs. We know what he represents to this club and to Portuguese people.’

Neto also said he would love to work under Mourinho and the legendary manager was asked about his compatriot’s comments.

Asked if he would like Neto at Benfica, Mourinho added: ‘Pedro Neto is one of the best wingers in the world.

‘Roberto [Martinez] at the [Portugal] national team is very privileged because he has not only Pedro Neto but four or five players of that profile.

‘At Benfica we don’t have as many. Of course I would like Pedro Neto but of course he is playing in a different reality, much different to ours, especially financially.

‘What can I say? I can wish him the very best, injury-free career. And of course I thank him for his words as well.’

Chelsea started the season strongly but Saturday’s defeat to Brighton was their third in four games.

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‘I’ve got a feeling Arsenal and Chelsea might come in.’

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Frank Leboeuf has sided with Chelsea outcasts Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi in the wake of stinging criticism from Enzo Maresca.

The Professional Footballers’ Association has contacted the club over the conditions the pair are working under this season after they were made surplus to requirements and isolated from the first team.

Neither was able to secure a move away from Stamford Bridge during the transfer window despite efforts being made to set up deals.

Maresca has not seen or spoken to either player this season and both have been kept entirely separate from the team, training and eating alone and at different times to the rest of the squad.

Sterling, who had an unsuccessful loan at Arsenal last season, still has two years to run on the £325,000-per-week deal he signed in 2022, whilst Disasi is under contract until 2029. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa.

‘My father is 75 years old, and for 50 years he has been a fisherman working from two o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock in the morning,’ said Maresca. ‘This is sad in life. Not here the way (Sterling and Disasi) work.

‘I’ve been in Raheem’s situation and Axel’s situation as a player. I know that it’s not the best feeling, because if you’re a player it means you want to train and play.

‘But for different reasons, the situation is what it is in this moment. I know that the club is giving them the opportunity to work in the right way, and this is the only thing I can say.’

Former Chelsea defender Leboeuf, however, refused to condone the actions of his former club having experienced the loneliness of being exiled during an unhappy spell with Marseille during the late stages of his playing career.

He told ESPN FC: ‘He’s (Maresca) right first of all in it’s many clubs, not just Chelsea in that situation.

‘I have known that when I was playing for Marseille so like four or five players being in what we used to call the cupboard. You are there and stuck and you don’t even train with the first team. That’s not normal, that’s not fair.

‘For Disasi and Sterling they signed a contract so the club at the time wanted them and now they’ve been rejected while they are still under contract. It shouldn’t be allowed to work that way, it shouldn’t be allowed that clubs have so many players that they have to reject some that they decided to sign.

‘I cannot agree with what Maresca said and again it’s not only about Chelsea. We are talking about human beings and mental health. The fact you have a dignity. We are talking about international players with Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi.

‘If you don’t want them you make sure you find them a club or they are allowed to train with the first team. That should be your punishment as a club. You decided to sign them, they didn’t come randomly. I’m going to defend the players and I will do so until my last breath.’

Cristiano Ronaldo has leapt to the defence of Al-Nassr and Portugal team-mate Joao Felix (Picture: Getty)

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Cristiano Ronaldo has leapt to the defence of Al-Nassr and Portugal team-mate Joao Felix (Picture: Getty)

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Owen Hargreaves believes Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma will eventually be regarded as the best Premier League signing of the summer transfer window.

Despite his stellar performances in the Champions League last season, Paris Saint-Germain opted to sell Donnarumma and sign Lucas Chevalier from Lille as their new first-choice goalkeeper.

Both Chelsea and Manchester United passed up the chance to sign the Italy international, leaving the path clear for Manchester City to complete a £26 million deal with PSG earlier this month.

The 26-year-old delivered an impressive display on his debut last weekend as City ran out 3-0 winners against United at the Etihad Stadium.

‘Donnarumma is a huge plus to them, he could turn out to be the biggest transfer of anybody,’ Hargreaves told Premier League Productions.

‘I think he gives them stability in terms of those big moments, he can make saves. How he only cost £26m I’ll never know.

‘At 26 years old he won the Champions League, probably helped PSG win the Champions League with the big saves he made in all those games.

‘I really believe that could be one of the biggest signings of any team.

‘You look at Pep, everyone says, ‘he’s not a Pep keeper because he’s not great with his feet’, he’s good enough with his feet.

‘Everyone said Haaland wasn’t a Pep striker but that’s the cool think about Pep, Pep continues to evolve on what he needs.

‘He saw an option with the [James] Trafford situation not going his way, realised he had to do something and he did.

‘I think Donnarumma is one of the best without question. That save he made against Mbeumo at the Etihad, I don’t think any other goalkeeper in the league outside Alisson makes that save.’

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