Mauricio Pochettino spoke at length about the failed moves for some Chelsea players around deadline day, insisting that is part of the business side.
There was plenty of chatter around Chelsea on the transfer deadline day as clubs plotted moves for some of their stars. Conor Gallagher stole the limelight on that day, with Tottenham reportedly keen on the midfielder. But others like Trevoh Chalobah and Ian Maatsen also had offers to move away.
The Ian Maatsen story caught the eye on the final day of the window, as Chelsea were open to selling him. Burnley had an agreement in place, but the player chose to stay and fight for a place under Mauricio Pochettino.
He ended up staying, but things could change for the youngster rapidly if he cannot find regular game time between now and January. Similarly, Trevoh Chalobah had widespread interest from the likes of Bayern Munich, Nottingham Forest, and even Tottenham.
Chelsea’s asking price seemed high for anyone’s liking, but attempts were made to sign the player. Chalobah may have preferred a move to Bayern, but due to the early closure of the German window, the defender remained at Stamford Bridge.
Mauricio Pochettino explains Chelsea decision to accept late offers for Ian Maatsen and Trevoh Chalobah
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Chelsea are still open to selling Chalobah if another opportunity arrives in January. Now, ahead of Chelsea’s game against Bournemouth, Pochettino answered at length the things behind such moves and what failure means in this aspect. His comments appeared on the Evening Standard, as the Argentine explained his way about these things and insisted it’s all part of the business.
Pochettino said, “What I can tell you is that there is there are two sides [to the situation]. If an offer appears, it is because another part of the club accepted that they move or they were trying to find a solution for a player that wanted to leave. You cannot only blame the club, if an offer appears for Jesus [Perez, my assistant], it is because Jesus was open to receiving the offer, no? Come on, we need to also be clever.”
“Did you receive an offer, Jesus?! No, but it is always easy to blame the club. In the same way, maybe the player was thinking in pre-season or before the season to move in one direction. If after that didn’t happen, then I am fair with the player. I will give them a chance to perform and play here. Maybe the player decides to stay after, but that’s the business.”
“It is not ‘oh, the club accepted the offer’ or ‘the player wanted to move.’ Come on, it is the business that we know very well. The players that are here if they deserve will have the opportunities to play, but they need to be better than the others in their position.”
Chelsea will again become active in the January window, and the club will foresee some changes to their current squad. Players like Chalobah and Maatsen could be moved on if they cannot fit Pochettino’s style in the coming months.
As for their season so far, Chelsea have had a bad start to proceedings. Pochettino will likely find some revival in form when they travel to Bournemouth on Sunday, aiming to collect three points and move up the table and into the top half.
