Carragher tells players to reject Chelsea as Joao Felix nears return

Jamie Carragher believes players should stop accepting moves to Chelsea and back themselves to excel at a “proper club”, as the Blues close in on the signing of Joao Felix.

Chelsea have spent over £1billion in the transfer market in just over two years under the Todd Boehly regime, but could only manage a sixth-place Premier League finish in 2023-24 after finishing 12th in 2022-23.

Enzo Maresca has become the fifth boss to take charge of the Blues in that time, and his first pre-season at the helm saw another significant outlay sanctioned by the Boehly regime.

Pedro Neto, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Filip Jorgensen, Omari Kellyman, Aaron Anselmino, Renato Veiga, Caleb Wiley, Marc Guiu and Tosin Adarabioyo have all arrived with Chelsea’s spending totalling £160million.

That figure is set to increase in the coming days with a deal in place to bring Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix – who enjoyed a loan spell at Stamford Bridge in 2023 – back to the club, while Brentford’s Ivan Toney has also been suggested as a potential target.

Carragher believes young players should reject the long-term contracts being handed out by the Blues, with the sheer size of Maresca’s squad sure to hamper their development.

“Chelsea have just got to stop buying players. Players have got to stop signing for Chelsea,” the former Liverpool defender told Sky Sports on Monday.

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“If I was a player, I would look at that squad and think, ‘why would I sign for Chelsea?’ The only reason is if your agent says it’s a seven-year deal on big money.

“I’d say, back yourself as a player. Sign a four-year deal at a proper club and back yourself to do well. When you’re up for renewal your money goes up anyway.

“It’s not a young and exciting team. They’re buying Joao Felix… tell me where he’s going to play.

“They’ve signed Pedro Neto… where’s he going to play when they’ve already got Cole Palmer?

“Where would you play Enzo Fernandez, a £100million player? Where would you play [Christopher] Nkunku? Great football teams need competition, but in every team I played in, you had seven or eight players who knew they were playing. That is a healthy squad.

“With Chelsea, where are they even getting changed on the training ground? If you’ve got 40 players, how do they fit in one dressing room? How do you put a training session on as a manager?”

Maresca’s first competitive game at the helm ended in a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, with the representatives of winger Raheem Sterling publishing a statement demanding “clarity” on his future after being left out by the Blues boss.