Rio Ferdinand has warned new Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino that his squad is badly balanced after the club's early summer business.
The Blues have spent the early stages of the transfer window moving players out of Stamford Bridge. N'Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly have all taken up lucrative deals in the Saudi Pro League, with Mateo Kovacic completing a move to Manchester City.
England international Mason Mount, arguably the club's best player in recent seasons, is also set to join Manchester United. And Ferdinand believes those deals have left the Blues dangerously unbalanced heading into their new era under Pochettino's management.
The Argentine will start work at Stamford Bridge on Monday, with his late arrival due to the terms of his exit from PSG a year ago. And Ferdinand believes he is already facing an uphill battle in his new role.
"Chelsea have been one of the stories of the summer for me in the movement that's been going on there. The amount of players that came in but also the amount of players who are leaving," Ferdinand told Vibe with Five.
"You look at Chelsea’s midfield – Jorginho went last season, Loftus-Cheek on his way out, Mason Mount on his way out, Kante and Kovacic have gone. That’s five midfielders, two or three of them start. There’s no midfield at that club at the moment.
"They're gonna start the season with Conor Gallagher. So you're sitting there going 'wow, who they gonna get?'. I've seen the reports of Caicedo they're in negotiations. Nkunku's come through the door but again he's an attacking player.
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They’ve got about eight or nine attacking players in the wide areas especially, unless Nkunku's coming to play up top, but that's not his best position. So it will be interesting, the squad lacks balance, they’re crying out for some midfielders."
Ferdinand has also warned Chelsea fans that they will need to be patient as Pochettino implements his ideas. That comes with the Blues having turned increasingly to signing younger players as the main plank of their transfer strategy.
"It’s going to be interesting to see where they go with the midfield because they've got Enzo in there who they spent £100m on. Who are they going to have in there alongside him, is it Conor Gallagher? Really, really intrigued," he added.
"It's big change now. They've got a lot of business done. They bought young players. Big money on these players. But they're all young players. Are these players Chelsea are buying for the future? Is that the new thinking.
"Because they’ve sold a lot of experience and are bringing in players that look like development players to me. They look like they will need time. They’ve got huge potential but Chelsea need players for now as well.
"Is it a change in tact in their recruitment? It’s going to be really interesting to see how Chelsea shape up after the transfer window. Chelsea fans might need to be patient."
