Mauricio Pochettino previews Chelsea’s clash with Spurs
Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino may have shown his cards too early in the race to sign Brentford’s Ivan Toney in the January transfer window after dropping a huge hint over his preference for new signings going forward. The Blues boss has made no secret of his desire to sign another striker after watching his side squander a hatful of chances this season, and the £80million-rated striker could prove to be the answer to their problems.
Aside from Harry Kane, Toney was the top-scoring Englishman in the Premier League with 20 goals in 33 league appearances and his ability to hold up the play as a target man is becoming more of a dying art in modern football. Along with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have been monitoring his situation ahead of a potential move in the coming months.
Pochettino has shown a proclivity for using a homegrown spine to build the squad around, with his key men Kane, Dele Alli and Eric Dier all English. When asked if Pochettino plans to form a similar ‘English core’ at Chelsea, Pochettino revealed that is certainly part of his plans.
“Yes, [I] agree because we are in England. Today, football is global but it is important to keep the culture of the country,” he told reporters in a news conference on Friday.
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“It’s important to have English players and important to keep the identity. I love players from everywhere. If they are good? Better. But we need to understand we are in England, in a country where we need to respect the culture.”
Pochettino already has some English talent to call upon with Levi Colwill, Reece James and summer signing Cole Palmer featuring heavily under his management. And with these comments, he may have given the game away in terms of his January plans to recruit an English striker, with Pochettino keen on a move for Brentford star Toney.
He is banned from all football activity until January 17, but he could prove to be a useful signing for the second half of the season when his ban is lifted. Toney hasn’t played since last season and can only train currently while his suspension remains in place.
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In the meantime, the one-cap England international is thought to have informed the Bees of his desire to leave the west London club in January and he could get his wish, with plenty of admirers in the Premier League.
The 27-year-old may have spent eight months out following a suspension from football for breaching the FA’s betting regulations, but English clubs haven’t forgotten about his goalscoring talents.
Naturally, Toney will know that Chelsea would be the easiest move for him to make, not only geographically but in terms of guaranteeing him a starting spot. Nicolas Jackson has only scored twice in the league since joining from Villarreal and Pochettino has been forced to look for another goalscorer to help unburden the 22-year-old.
The situation is different at Arsenal, where Mikel Arteta has Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as his main striking options. United signed Rasmus Hojlund for £72m in the summer but the Dane is yet to score, and Toney could be brought in to compete with the 20-year-old or even play alongside him.
But it would also be wise for Toney to exercise some caution, given the decline of some top strikers that have gone to Stamford Bridge and flopped. Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner were shipped off within 18 months of their big-money arrivals, following a long line of strikers to have struggled to find the goals at Chelsea.
In any case, Pochettino looks primed to repeat his work at Spurs with Chelsea after seeing it produce some fine results, especially with Kane.
Perhaps Toney is the man to turn their season around, but the Argentinian will have to wait another 10 weeks before he can even think of having him in his team.
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