Graham Potter admits ‘there’s no guarantee this is going to work’.. as Chelsea to take January spending to £189m
GRAHAM POTTER incredibly admits “there is no guarantee” Chelsea’s massive spending spree will halt the club’s slump.
Rival bosses Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Frank yesterday stuck the knife into the Blues’ whopping £189million January transfer splurge.
Brentford manager Frank branded Mykhailo Mudryk’s £88m deal as “insane”.
And Liverpool chief Klopp added: “They fix problems differently to us. I’m not sure they can do that for the next ten years.”
Potter is set to unleash Ukrainian winger Mudryk, 22, at Liverpool tomorrow, while Noni Madueke completed his £35m move from Dutch side PSV Eindhoven.
Chelsea have also signed £35m defender Benoit Badiashile from Monaco, £10.5m striker David Datro Fofana from Molde, £11m Andrey Santos from Vasco da Gama and forward Joao Felix on a £9.7m loan deal from Atletico Madrid.
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But Chelsea chief Potter confessed the mega spending is a huge gamble, insisting: “There is no guarantee that this is going to work.
“With every decision you go into you should have the humility to say we haven’t got all the answers.
“You’ve got to make the best educated guess you can and try to predict what may happen.”
Chelsea are tenth in the Prem and out of both domestic cups.
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And Potter added: “The players we have identified are young with quality.
“They are all starting their careers so they are all ambitious.
“They are not here to be fourth, they are here to win. So those are the upsides — but is there a life without risk? No.
“Whatever you do there is risk it might not work.”
Chelsea have splashed out a massive £465m since new US billionaire owner Todd Boehly took charge last summer.
Frank revealed he tried to sign Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk last summer — but was put off by the £30m the Ukrainian club demanded.
He said: “Mudryk is a good player but nearly £100m? That is a lot.
“He shows great signs of potential but needs to do a bit more. However, that is price tags these days and it is insane.”
Yet after Chelsea gazumped Arsenal to land Mudryk, Potter is backing his new Ukrainian star.
Potter said: “He is a young player who has a lot of potential.
“He brings speed, directness and one-v-one ability to just eliminate an opponent. He’s such an exciting player.
“Now we have got to help him adapt to the Premier League.”
Potter is planning team- bonding sessions so the new signings can integrate quickly.
Yet he will not recreate the ballet dancing that he used at previous Swedish club Ostersunds.
He said: “We need to bring the group together.
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“It would be a mistake to replicate things we did at Ostersunds. There’ll be no Swan Lake here!
“But building trust in a team, empathy and self-awareness, you can still do that without having to do a dance project.”