Looking at the squad Chelsea named for their Premier League game against Luton Town last night, you certainly would not think that they were a club that had spent almost £1billion on players over the last three transfer windows. While injuries played a part, their bench had very few names that the casual football fan would recognise.
Of course, this isn't to say that their current squad is not incredibly bloated. They are still looking to shift quite a bit of deadwood from the books, something they will need to do more and more of as they seek to balance the accounts after their heavy spending.
Mauricio Pochettino will have a big job on his hands to turn that list of players into a cohesive group, although it seems that some of his squad members are no longer part of his thoughts.
Mauricio Pochettino seemingly forget Chelsea player exists
Malang Sarr joined Chelsea from Nice in the summer of 2020, signing on a free transfer.
The centre back was immediately loaned out to Porto, where he struggled for playing time. After returning to Stamford Bridge the following season, he would make a handful of appearance in all competitions. Having then been been a bit part player on loan at Monaco last season, it seemed unlikely that he would have a future in London.
Chelsea have been keen to offload him this summer, although they have struggled to find any takers. That is largely down to the player's financial situation, with Sarr raking in £100,000 per week. No club is going to match those wages when he has had three poor campaigns on the spin.
The term 'forgotten man' is often thrown around in football, but it very much applies in this case. In fact, Mauricio Pochettino seemingly forgot Malang Sarr existed when asked about him in a press conference last night. He also forgot about Jamie Cumming, a young goalkeeper who featured for the club in pre-season.
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino appears not to know who Malang Sarr is. Slight problem with that is that he’s a previous French youth international under contract with… Chelsea. pic.twitter.com/JjfJF7iixF
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) August 26, 2023
Reporter: I just want to ask about two players: Malang Sarr who was on loan last season...
Pochettino: Who?
Reporter: Malang Sarr, and Jamie Cumming who played the first game against Wrexham (in pre-season), the goalkeeper?
Pochettino: Oh my. Eh, Malang Sarr? And Jamie? I don't know what to tell you. I don't know because you surprised me, it's like you punched (me) and I am like this. We were talking about Luton.
This isn't really a great look for Mauricio Pochettino, but it does point to the bloated nature of Chelsea's squad.
They have had a mixed start to the season, although they did look decent last night against a very poor Luton Town side. It will be interesting to see if their new manager can pull the group together over the course of the campaign.
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