Carragher Names Five Chelsea Players Ready to Walk as BlueCo Turmoil Deepens

Jamie Carragher has singled out five Chelsea stars poised to quit Stamford Bridge as the BlueCo era continues its chaotic descent.

The west London outfit has thrown £1.5bn at new recruits across nearly four years of Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali's stewardship. Just when it looked like Enzo Maresca might have turned the corner—steering them back into the Champions League and capturing a couple of major trophies last term—the Italian became the fourth manager to get the chop under the current regime.

Step forward Liam Rosenior, the inexperienced replacement who is already feeling the heat. A solitary victory in six Premier League outings, a Carabao Cup exit to Arsenal, and a humiliating Champions League knockout at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain have left the Stamford Bridge faithful thoroughly disillusioned.

Enzo Fernandez has already signalled his willingness to depart, with Real Madrid lurking in the background. The midfielder sits atop Carragher's list of five potential escapees.

"Chelsea were always winning, they were always in finals and collecting trophies," Carragher explained on Stick To Football. "Now it's about building… building for what? This generation of fans expect to win. They are not into this building for the future."

"I can't believe the Enzo Fernandez stuff. I think Chelsea have got five or six really brilliant players, really good. Reece James, Moises Caicedo, Fernandez, Cole Palmer, Pedro up front. But eventually they will go, 'what the f*** is this, I should be playing for a team going for the Champions League'. You can't keep building."

Former Chelsea playmaker Joe Cole has voiced similarly scathing criticism, accusing BlueCo of treating the club as a property portfolio rather than a football institution designed to win matches.

"You can say what you like about the Roman Abramovich era but it was built with one thing in mind and that was to win trophies," Cole said. "It was pitch from the football pitch outwards. Under Roman Chelsea wanted the best managers we could get and the best players we could get. The idea was to try and win every game and win every trophy."

Cole highlighted the contrast between the previous regime's ruthlessness and the current ownership's approach. "When that didn't happen we're going to change the manager, which can be chaotic, and we're going to change players. We're selling them if we have to. You all knew what was going on, right?"

The former playmaker condemned the spending strategy as fundamentally flawed. "Over £1billion has been spent on the premise that these lads will develop and become players, and some of them will become great players. But the Chelsea fans are upset because they don't feel like they're competing, and they're not really. You're not buying players to win games of football, you're buying players as an asset and I don't think that ever works."

Cole argued that the supporters have seen through the rhetoric. "You're running the club like a business and the fans know when they're being lied to, they know when they're effectively being duped. If the owners come out and say we're going to buy younger players and balance the books and if it happens it happens. The fans won't like it, but at least it's honest. But Chelsea are not trying to compete with Manchester City and Arsenal, because you can't. How can they compete with these signings? They can't. Man City and Arsenal are streets ahead at the moment."

With Manchester United circling Cole Palmer, Cole sympathises with the star's predicament. "They're frustrated. And you get into that position now, where the best players are going to start going… If you're Cole Palmer you're thinking, I could go and play anywhere in the world. Like, what's happening here? Do you know what I mean?"