Jody Morris has admitted he would 'love' Chelsea to have the pulling power to compete with Arsenal and Liverpool for Paris Saint-Germain winger Bradley Barcola, but doubts the club can sign another player of that calibre this summer.
The former Chelsea midfielder, speaking to Sky Sports, expressed surprise that the Blues managed to secure Morgan Rogers in a £117million deal, given Arsenal were reportedly leading the race for the Aston Villa and England midfielder.
Transfer activity under Alonso
Chelsea, under new manager Xabi Alonso, have shifted away from a purely youth-led transfer policy after a tenth-placed Premier League finish last season. The club has signed Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson, who boast nearly 1,000 combined Premier League appearances, along with Italy right-back Marco Palestra from Atalanta. Racing Santander left-back Pep Chavarria is expected to be announced as a replacement for Marc Cucurella.
Liverpool are believed to be leading the chase for Barcola, while Arsenal are monitoring his situation as their hopes of signing Vinicius Junior dwindle. Barcola is rated at £145million.
Morris on Barcola and title hopes
'I would have loved to have been in a position where we can go after Barcola,' Morris said. 'But I said this previously, I was really surprised that we managed to get Morgan Rogers through the door when he's playing for a team that's already in the Champions League and reportedly had the champions of England [Arsenal] after him as well. I was really surprised that we managed to get him through the door so I think it would be wishful thinking if we were then able to get another player of that ilk [Barcola] who has just won the Champions League twice.'
Asked if Barcola's addition would make Chelsea title challengers, Morris replied: 'No, I don't think so. I think we need to start establishing ourselves as a top-four, regular team that is maybe going to be trying to make improvements from where we've been previously. The underperforming nature of the group last year was so far away off where we should be.'
Experience in the squad
Morris is confident Henderson and Welbeck will prove invaluable in terms of experience, but is unsure how much influence they can have if they are not regular starters. The 47-year-old, who served as Frank Lampard's assistant at Stamford Bridge, said: 'I do think adding your Jordan Hendersons and your Danny Welbecks is great for the group as a whole. I really like Jordan Henderson and I really like Danny Welbeck, but I wouldn't have minded a little bit more experience in the starting XI. I'm not too sure that those two players will be starting week in, week out, and I think that can dilute the influence you can have on the group a bit.'
He added: 'They'll still be amazing to have around the place, particularly Jordan Henderson. He's someone who can have a huge influence on not just the younger players but the club as a whole. We're certainly not worse off than what we were without those players, but sometimes adding that experience in maybe your guaranteed six, seven, eight starters in the team is a little bit more important.'
