Former Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has hit out at the club’s decline under the current ownership.
Chelsea have spent more than £1 billion across the last three transfer windows, but last season suffered the club’s worst Premier League campaign since 1993/94 after finishing 12th in the table.
Mauricio Pochettino arrived as head coach during the summer, though has overseen a mixed start to his reign with Chelsea having won just once in their opening four fixtures of the Premier League campaign.
Chelsea are 12th in the table ahead of this weekend’s clash with Bournemouth and Begovic has hit out at his former club, criticising the drop in standard ‘from top to bottom’ and calling the Blues a ‘mid-table’ squad.
“What has happened at Chelsea Football Club? It beggars all belief. The squad of players at Pochettino’s disposal and the amount of money spent is 12th in the league. It’s mid-table, it’s literally mid-table,” Begovic told The Byline podcast,
“If they were any higher he would be working miracles. You’ve had a bit of bad luck with (Christopher) Nkunku getting injured, he’s a top player, Cole Palmer’s just come in, but what is going on with the recruitment of these players?
“Why is Chelsea Football Club rebuilding? Why is Chelsea Football Club in transition? This is one of the best, I’ve been there, I was proud to be there, it’s one of the best locations to play football in the world.
“What is going on with everything at this football club? I remember being with players in the dressing room: world-class, world-class, world-class. Buying from Barcelona, buying from Real Madrid, buying from Bayern Munich. Now it’s buying from Brighton in potential and I get you need a part of that, but where are the top world-class players at Chelsea?
“Chelsea fans expect the best and expect to be challenging for trophies. I don’t see Manchester City rebuilding. When i was there, Chelsea was the standard from top to bottom. The first-team squad was a joke and the standard of players was unbelievable.
“These players at their disposal, it’s a mid-table squad. This is not Chelsea Football Club. This is a world-class organisation, but has been anything but for the last 12 months.”
