Joe Cole and Peter Crouch question Chelsea recruitment - ‘Crying out for a little bit of experience’

Joe Cole believes that Chelsea should loosen their policy of focusing on bringing younger players to the club in light of another inconsistent season.

Speaking ahead of a West London derby against Fulham at Stamford Bridge – live on TNT Sports – the former Blues midfielder said that a few more seasoned professionals at the club could help improve the young Chelsea squad.

“The key thing is recruitment; you cannot get the next two or three signings in the building wrong. They have to improve the squad,” he told TNT Sports.

“Cole Palmer from a positive side of things, I'd be the thinking about building this next generation of Chelsea around him, he's got so much quality.

“But I think they're very rigid. [Armando] Broja has come in and done very well, but from what I understand about the owners, they want to buy youth or players under the age of 24 or 25.

“You couldn't have got Harry Kane or [Cristiano] Ronaldo who went to Saudi Arabia, and he was getting on. [Victor] Osimhen wasn't available, so you have to be a bit smarter with your recruitment.

“They could be thinking, 'Maybe we'll put in a bid for Ivan Toney, as we know he's going to get 15-20 goals'. He may or may not become the next Didier Drogba or Diego Costa.

“All of the great sides would buy players when they become available, and you can't just buy young players. I think this team is crying out for a little bit of experience. Let Poch [Mauricio Pochettino] decide the players he wants to come in; that's more crucial than anything else at the football club. If he gives the green light to the players coming in, then that's very important going forward.”

Meanwhile, Peter Crouch says that the Blues have not used their transfer funds wisely, and is puzzled that they have not used their financial resources to bring in a proven striker.

“I'm just flabbergasted at how you spend that much money and don't have a centre-forward when there were ones available,” he added.

“If you spend that sort of money, you go out and buy big. There were forwards available, but they haven't got it right or found a player that can stick the ball in the back of the net.

“We're still here talking about what they’re going to spend next after they’ve already spent so much money.”

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