Chelsea have fallen behind Manchester United and City with their muddled transfer strategy, says Gary Neville
Neville does not think Chelsea are able to compete with City and United
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea are no longer able to truly compete with Manchester City and United in the transfer market – at least according to Gary Neville.
The Blues signed three new players in January but the Manchester clubs have shown over the past two seasons that they are more willing to spend big on transfer fees and wages.
Ross Barkley, Emerson Palmieri and Olivier Giroud all arrived, for a collective £50.5m.
“Chelsea, historically, they're not in for the players City and United are in for now,”Neville said on Sky Sports' The Debate special. “You could move Chelsea into that next pack, because they're not competing with the Manchester clubs at this moment in time.”
Neville also warned Chelsea that any new manager has a tough job on their hands to unravel what has been an Antonio Conte tailored transfer window, which could cause problems later on down the line.
“I look at these signings, and I look at that transfer window, and I think that could take a couple of years to undo,” he added.
“It's so geared to a system, the five at the back. If something happens to Conte... it's unlikely that he'll be there [beyond the end of the season]. A new manager has got to pick up that squad with that system.
“You look at those players, Giroud is there to play as a single striker, Zappacosta wing back, Marcos Alonso wing back, David Luiz one of a back three. You think, it's tailored to that three as a back.
“You have to unravel quite a lot system-wise, there's a lot of risk in those signings.”
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