Chelsea legend Gus Poyet thinks his former club signing Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez were big calls.
Chelsea bought Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion during the summer transfer window, while Enzo Fernandez arrived from Benfica in January, and Poyet has now suggested to The Sun that the two midfielders were huge gambles.
Neither player came cheap, with the former costing £115m, the world record for a midfielder, while the latter was purchased for £106.8m.
Despite assembling such an expensive engine room, Chelsea have still struggled this season.
Caicedo and Fernandez have not been able to to prevent the Blues from slipping down the table each week, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side currently sitting in 15th place.
Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez big calls
Discussing the Chelsea midfield duo, Poyet said: “The signings of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo were both big calls. I call these types of transfers ‘in fashion’ where it seems to be the popular thing to spend lots of money on a specific position.
“We have seen it happen with goalkeepers, centre-backs and striker, now the trend is paying £100m for a central midfielder; we have seen this with Declan Rice [at Arsenal], Caicedo and Fernandez. It seems to be in fashion and I don’t like that in football.”
Huge gambles
There is no denying that Caicedo and Fernandez were risky signings. The Blues paid so much for the two, who are still very young players.
And Fernandez, while he has won the World Cup, had not kicked a ball in the Premier League before joining Chelsea
These are transfers that could go wrong, but hopefully both Caicedo and Fernandez can show their worth in west London.
It will not be easy given how much they cost, but Chelsea clearly feel that the pair are £100m footballers.
Hopefully the duo can make a real impact when the Blues take on Fulham at Craven Cottage tonight, a game that they need to win after their horrific start to the campaign.
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