Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has indicated that his squad lacks experience players, as part of an admission about making mistakes in the transfer market.
Speaking ahead of Monday's match against Everton, Pochettino highlighted that Chelsea will look to bring in some older players in the next transfer window, having overlooked experience for youth in recent years.
In fact, in 2023/24 the oldest players to arrive at Stamford Bridge were Christopher Nkunku, Robert Sanchez and Axel Disasi, all of whom were signed as 25-year-olds. The season before saw Raheem Sterling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kalidou Koulibaly all sign, too, though only one of that trio remains at Chelsea under Pochettino.
Sterling is now the third-oldest player in the squad, with reserve goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli and club stalwart Thiago Silva the club's only players over the age of 30. Clearly, that is something Pochettino wants addressing ahead of next term.
"In the squad we have Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling who have experience, or Marcus Bettinelli who maybe is not playing but I want to say that he is doing a fantastic job because he’s helping the young guys," the Argentine boss said. "So we have experienced guys also in the squad.
"That is not going against the project. That is trying to have some guys who are helping the young guys to be a professional, to perform, to understand what the Premier League means and the standards of Chelsea.
“We need to bring more young players and some experienced players. That is all about talking with the club, analysing, and deciding the strategy for next season. That is really important."
Having been famed for his ability to develop young players at Tottenham, such as Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier, Pochettino suggests that is only viable when older, more experienced members of the squad are there to guide them.
"We are in a project where 80 or 90 per cent of the players are young and maybe they need to grow together. Of course they need some help. That is why we are here, to help them in this process, to become leaders and be improving," he added.
"But we are talking about so many players who only arrived at Chelsea and the Premier League this season. John Terry was young also and needed to build, he wasn’t already the leader of the team at 18 or 19.
"It’s like if you compare Nicolas Jackson with Didier Drogba in his first season. Jackson could be a leader, but Drogba wasn’t the leader in his first season. So of course with time we can create good leaders."
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