Rio Ferdinand and Martin Keown agree for different reasons that Chelsea will not be making the Premier League top four this season as pundits split ahead of Everton.
The Blues have been in transition on and off the pitch for a while now. Whilst business rampantly heats up in the transfer window with Wesley Fofana and Frenkie de Jong transfer pursuits very much active, the pre-season form ahead of the Toffees clash has caused some concern not just amongst the fans but among the pundits too.
"I don't care about results in pre-season, it was more the aftermath," the former Man United defender told The Mirror. "There must be some things happening behind the scenes that we're not aware of as yet, he seems disgruntled and unhappy. There are maybe some players angling for a move behind-the-scenes that we're not aware of. He's brought Sterling in who will be a great addition, but if they lose the players that they're talking about losing.
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"Rudiger's a massive loss, but Koulibaly's come in - I think he'll be a good signing this year. He's experienced. But I think they need more again and I think he's very aware of that and it's not happening quick enough for them. If they don't have any more movement in the window, I'd be worried about them."
He then added his prediction: "I think it [the top six in order] will go Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal."
Arsenal icon Keown, whilst not citing the same pre-season reason, reckons the loss of Antonio Rudiger will prove detrimental in the west Londoners' position in the final 2022/23 Premier League standings.
"Last season's top four will take some shifting, but potentially Chelsea look the most likely to fall out of it because of the players they have lost. Antonio Rudiger is a massive loss at the back," he told the BBC.
It's not all doom and gloom though from every pundit with former Spurs defender Jermaine Jenas and Danny Murphy making more optimistic predictions for what is ahead for Tuchel this term.
"It's hard to go against Chelsea finishing in the top four. There are still question marks over them, but if they bring in Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona as well as Marc Cucurella, then things will start to look very different," Jenas outlined.
Murphy then followed up: "Chelsea have got some new faces and they will take a while to settle but I am a big fan of Tuchel and think he's a very intelligent manager. I still think their squad is full of quality players, so I think they will do better this time."
Chelsea fans- Do you agree with how dismissive certain pundits have been against the Blues ahead of the new Premier League season? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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