Chelsea could have no choice but to sack sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart soon as key ‘ambition’ now in danger

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Chelsea have been pretty unsuccessful since being taken over by Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali in 2022.

The Blues have not won any trophies under Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali and have failed to qualify for the Champions League in the last two seasons.

The blame has been placed on the two Chelsea co-owners, as well as former managers Mauricio Pochettino and Graham Potter.

However, outside the Chelsea fanbase, not too much has been said about sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley. But the reality is, the pair should be the ones fighting to save their jobs if Chelsea miss out on the top four once again, not the manager this time.

• READ MORE: Four mistakes Chelsea chiefs made in January transfer window including Joao Felix loan deal

Laurence Stewart admits Chelsea have to be in the Champions League

It was only back in October when Stewart made it clear that Chelsea need to be in the Champions League. And at that moment in time, qualification looked nailed on.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the Chelsea co-sporting director said: “This is a club that needs to be in the Champions League, it’s a club that needs to be competing to win trophies consistently and we want to do that with a certain way of playing football as well. So that absolutely is the ambition.

“And then the plan has been how do we go on a path to make that possible. And that’s been around investing in talent, committing to develop talent and developing a way of playing, the way we want our teams to play.”

Fast forward to now, though, Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League table with Manchester City and Newcastle United only two points behind them.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	23	17	5	1	56	21	35	56
2	ArsenalArsenal	24	14	8	2	49	22	27	50
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	24	14	5	5	40	27	13	47
4	ChelseaChelsea	24	12	7	5	47	31	16	43
5	Man CityManchester City	24	12	5	7	48	35	13	41
6	NewcastleNewcastle	24	12	5	7	42	29	13	41

Ultimately, Enzo Maresca‘s side could easily end up missing out on Champions League football. And if that happens, Stewart and Winstanley need to take responsibility.

The message that they have put out is that the club need to qualify for Europe’s elite competition. But the question is, have they given Maresca the squad to do so?

Recruitment under Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley has not been good enough

There is no denying that Chelsea have spent a ridiculous amount of money under this current regime. But the problem is a lot of these players have arrived at Stamford Bridge as young footballers lacking experience.

Many of the Blues’ additions are also either out on loan or not even at the club any more.

All in all, Chelsea have a very imbalanced squad. There is not a mixture of youthfulness and experience, while certain areas are lacking.

For example, there is not really any real natural cover for Nicolas Jackson, while Marc Cucurella is now the only recognised left-back in the ranks following Renato Veiga’s loan move to Juventus and Ben Chilwell’s temporary switch to Crystal Palace.

It is probably fair to say, then, that Chelsea’s squad building under Stewart and Winstanley has been poor. It is now time for them to come under proper scrutiny.