Transfer Centre

Mauricio Pochettino hints at Chelsea transfer business in January

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 11 December 2023

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino hints that Chelsea may require further players to be signed during the January transfer window, despite their previous spending.

Mauricio Pochettino has hinted that he wants Chelsea to be active in the transfer market in January.

On Sunday afternoon, the Blues suffered their third Premier League defeat in four matches as they lost 2-0 away at Everton.

As a result, Chelsea now sit down in 12th position in the standings, which would have been 13th place had their most recent opponents not been docked 10 points for breaching Premier League Profit and Sustainability regulations.

Pochettino has frequently insisted that Chelsea will challenge for Champions League qualification in time, yet they now sit 11 points adrift of fifth position.

In the short term, making up the seven-point gap to eighth-placed Brighton & Hove Albion will be the priority, but it appears that the Argentine wants to see further fresh faces arrive at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino during Burnley game on October 7, 2023. © Reuters

Although Pochettino is yet to be unable to field Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku due to ankle and knee injuries, Chelsea signed as many as eight players ready for first-team football in the summer.

Further fitness issues have also hindered Pochettino, as shown by a youthful substitutes' bench on occasions, yet his comment after the setback at Goodison Park suggests that Chelsea plan to be active.

As quoted by Sky Sports News, he said: "It's about improving. We are talking after four, five months - 16 games - and it's about assessing. If we are not able to score today with all the chances we had...we have to score if we want to win the game.

"We want to be in a different position in the table. The team played well against a very difficult team like Everton. We were much better than them but you need to score.

Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin in action with Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez on December 10, 2023 © Reuters

"After the first half of the season, we need to check. That is the reality. If we are not receiving enough, maybe we need to do some movement. That is the thing to analyse with the sporting directors, to see if we can change this dynamic and improve in the second half of the season.

"We need to be more aggressive. Then it's a massive assessment and when the transfer window opens, we will see what we can do."

In the three transfer windows since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital completed a takeover from Roman Abramovich, Chelsea have spent in excess of £1bn.

Their net-spend over that period is over £700m, realistically leaving the West Londoners in a position where they must facilitate sales if they wish to add to their squad if they are to stay in line with FFP regulations.