Gary Neville makes Roman Abramovich prediction as Chelsea close in on seventh transfer
Gary Neville thinks Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will expect Frank Lampard's team to be far closer to Liverpool and Manchester City come the end of this season following his huge transfer spend, which is set to nudge closer to £250million. The Blues are closing in on their seventh signing of the summer in Edouard Mendy.
Sky Sports claim Rennes goalkeeper Mendy, 28, was at
Stamford Bridge yesterday and completed a medical to move to Chelsea.
The Premier League side will pay an initial £18million,
which could rise to £23m if add-ons are met, for the Senegalese shot-stopper.
He will follow in the footsteps of Hakim Ziyech, Timo
Werner, Ben Chilwell, Malang Sarr, Thiago Silva and Kai Havertz in joining
Chelsea this summer.
If reports are to be believed, Lampard could also look to
land West Ham's Declan Rice before the summer window closes on October 5,
though he could cost as much as £70m.
Abramovich's outlay is the biggest he has ever sanctioned in
a single window since taking control of the club back in 2004.
And after Chelsea finished 33 points behind champions
Liverpool and 15 adrift of City last term, Sky Sports pundit and ex-Manchester
United defender Neville thinks the Russian oligarch will expect that gap to be
far smaller come the end of the 2020-21 campaign.
They made a good start on Monday night by beating Brighton 3-1
at the Amex Stadium with both Werner and Havertz making their debuts.
Neville told Monday Night Football: “You always felt there
was a feeling from Roman Abramovich, even though we’ve never heard him speak
about it, that he wanted football with flair.
“He wanted a different type of approach but he wouldn’t
compromise that in his search for trophies, so he always went back to a more
methodical approach, more mature approach, experienced teams.
“What he seems to have done now is brought into a longer process.
He had fantastic academy players, academy teams for years. He’s now giving
Frank Lampard the responsibility to use them.
“He’s obviously now investing in young players. I think what
he would want to see is progression towards that top two."
Should Mendy join Chelsea he will give Lampard another
selection headache to ponder over each week, with Kepa Arrizabalaga having
started their opening Premier League match at Brighton last night.
Asked if Chelsea can compete for the title this season,
Neville's colleague Jamie Carragher insisted that Mendy must usurp Arrizabalaga
as No 1.
He said: "Not for me, no. Because the spending has been
at the top end of the pitch and until Chelsea rectify their goalkeeping
situation I don’t see them winning the league.
“You only have to look at Pep Guardiola’s first season in
England, Jurgen Klopp’s first 18 months, until they signed goalkeepers and they
made the real difference.
“If Chelsea signed a top goalkeeper, I think that will make
a big difference.
“And also to be fair to Chelsea and Frank I think the
expenditure of this transfer window is almost three or four transfer windows of
money getting spent in one go.
“They couldn’t buy anyone last year, they’ve still got the
[Eden] Hazard and the [Alvaro] Morata money, so it is club money in some ways.
“Until they change the goalkeeper I don’t think they’ve got
any chance.”
Neville added: "There’s an element of the unknown with
Chelsea. I think that’s a massive opportunity, it will excite Frank Lampard but
it’ll also scare him a little bit.
“How’s Timo Werner going to settle in? How’s Havertz going
to settle in, Ziyech going to settle in?
"Thiago Silva - different end of the spectrum in terms
of experience but how’s he going to adapt to English football.
“There’s a lot of unknowns about the Chelsea squad I think
Lampard will be excited by but also a little concerned by.”
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