Mauricio Pochettino has warned Chelsea cannot afford to “create a mess” by panic buying in the final week of the transfer window.
Chelsea are trying to sign another offensive player before the transfer window shuts and have shown an interest in Tottenham Hotspur target Brennan Johnson and Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun, while also being offered Dusan Vlahovic by Juventus as part of a swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku.
Injuries to Christopher Nkunku, Carney Chukwuemeka and Mykhailo Mudryk, as Armando Broja works his way towards fitness, have heightened Chelsea’s immediate need for attacking players after the club failed in a move for Crystal Palace star Michael Olise.
But Pochettino is conscious of the fact that signing a similar profile of player to his absentees could cause issues further down the line and has suggested that any offensive player the club brings in between now and the end of the transfer window needs to be Premier League ready after the club confirmed the arrival of Brazilian teenage forward Deivid Washington.
“It is easy to say we need more offensive players, but I think we have offensive players and they need to recover,” said head coach Pochettino ahead of Chelsea’s game against Luton Town on Friday night.
“If you bring in a player that is not fit or needs to adapt to the Premier League, maybe you are going to spend the same time you wait for Broja, or Nkunku or Carney. Then you are going to create a mess in the squad. That is why we are working really hard to analyse the situation.
“We were talking about [signing] one offensive player, the right profile. If we can add the right profile, yes, but not to bring players so we can add one more. We don’t want to stop the evolution of some young guys, Broja, Nkunku.
“It is a little bit unlucky because we need a little bit of help now. We are trying to find the right profile. The most important is the profile of the player we need to add to the squad so after it won’t be a problem and they can be compatible. That is why it is not easy but yes, we are trying to do something.”
Manager hints Lukaku situation could change
Chelsea’s search for another offensive player has placed more scrutiny on the club’s decision to freeze out £97.5million striker Lukaku, who is training with Chelsea’s Under-21s and is yet to even speak to Pochettino.
Pochettino has reiterated the fact that his hands are tied over Lukaku after the player and the club agreed that they would seek a move for him this summer.
“The situation [with Lukaku] did not change,” said Pochettino. “It is a situation that was already really clear before we arrived here. There was a wish between the club and the player to try to find a solution. At the moment we are relaxed and nothing happened. If something changes, we will inform you.
“If the player and club’s wish is to find a solution, it’s not me, it’s them. In that case, the player and the club will meet and inform me that things have changed. I’m not going to move until the club or the player wants to talk with me. I am here, I accept the situation that was here when I arrived.”
Pochettino, however, did hint that the situation with Lukaku might change if the Belgian does not secure a move away before the transfer window shuts next Thursday night.
“The club and the player both try to find a solution,” he said. “The future can change things. Life can change. I saw Klopp say I’m not going to be in this business when we should pay £100m, and then they offered £100m and he said ‘Oh, I made a mistake’. That is the same situation. In football, the dynamic is fast and changes and we need to move on. Today, nothing has changed. If something changes we will adapt to the situation.”
