Mauricio Pochettino tells Todd Boehly to give him time to build a winning team at Chelsea ahead of Premier League opener
MAURICIO POCHETTINO has urged Todd Boehly: Give me time to make Chelsea champions.
The Blues begin their Premier League campaign in eight days against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge as Pochettino’s tenure officially gets underway.
The West Londoners have undergone a complete rebuild this summer, selling THIRTEEN first team stars – while U.S. owner Boehly has spent around £750m since his June 2022 arrival.
However, new boss Poch – who was previously in charge at Paris Saint-Germain – believes simply buying star names will not get Chelsea back to the top.
He explained: “You can’t win if you don’t build, but bring names and players.
“There are maybe some exceptions, but all of the clubs that win have won after very good years working hard and being consistent, making a plan to try to win.
“Manchester City or Liverpool, they lose semi-finals or finals and they keep going, giving the coaching staff the possibility to work for the pre-season.”
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Chelsea have made six first team signings this summer, including Villarreal striker Nicolas Jackson for £32m, RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku for £52m and Monaco defender Axel Disasi for £38.8m.
However, Poch has made it clear that the squad still requires strengthening in several positions if they are to compete for major honours and the top four this campaign.
Poch is still waiting for the club to land his priority summer signing, Brighton’s Moises Caicedo – a saga which is set to rumble on due to the player’s £100m evaluation.
Yet the Argentine coach is ready, for now, to stick with what he has got to take on the Reds and start the Prem season, including several teenage hopefuls who have impressed in pre-season.
Poch explained: “I know how difficult it is to build a squad to have the possibility to compete with big sides like City, Liverpool. We are in a good way. We are building something special.
“It’s a process and we need time. But in football you cannot ask for time and you need to deliver from now.
“We know that we are in Chelsea and even if we have young players that will be involved against Liverpool, the mentality is to win.
“We are preparing ourselves to know it will be tough the first game and then the next game also but we need to arrive with a good mentality.”