Pat Nevin Predicts: Transfer Questions Persist While Chelsea Face…

Speaking exclusively with BOYLE Sports , former Chelsea hero Pat Nevin has given his assessment of Chelsea's defensive issues and asses whether a former Academy Player could be the exact thing the club needs.

He also, gave his thoughts on Chelsea's transfer policy, whether a goalkeeper is needed at Stamford Bridge and if recent exit links for Enzo Fernandez this January are credible,

Nevin also predicts where Chelsea will finish the League phase of the Champions League and if they can find themselves in an automatic qualifying spot

Guehi Back To The Bridge?

I think it goes back to when the new ownership came in. Since they arrived, they've brought in Axel Disasi , Benoit Badiashile , Wesley Fofana (although he's been injured), Malo Gusto , Jorrel Hato and Tosin . That's £200 million spent on centre-backs. And all the Chelsea fans are saying, ‘Why don't we have a settled partnership?’ That's a lot of money.

If you look at the best in the house, there's a good argument that the best centre-backs were produced from indoors. Levi Colwill , coming through the system. Trevoh Chalobah, coming through the system. Marc Guehi came through the system. It's a bit of a weird situation regarding centre-backs. And they're looking at interesting players. We've heard the names. Jérémy Jacquet is the one we're talking about most at the moment. He has the right background: he's tall, he's strong, he's played at the top level.

There's Jacobo Ramon, who was at Real Madrid and is now at Como, big, tall, the right age for the club’s model. The centre-backs I'm talking about just now, 20-21, they're not complete. They never are complete by the time they're 20-21. So you're bringing in what's likely to be the same difficulty as you've had before. Now, it may well be that this is different. This is the new one. This is the one that actually works. But so far, they haven't really been great. Some of them have been okay. Some of them have been disastrous.

The fact that it's been £200million in two and a half years is quite a lot not to have a settled centre-back pairing yet. So that's something that has to be looked at by the acquisitions department. Are they doing a good job in that area? That's a good question. By the way, the one big caveat is Wesley Fofana's i njury, which has had a big impact.

Should Chelsea Re-Sign Marc Guehi?

Yes he's a great defender

No they don't need him

Buonanotte’s Departure Sums Chelsea Up

Facundo Buonanotte i s a nice player to watch. The problem is, there are better players in his position. So it was hard to see where that would work. And you start looking at that one and then the Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall one. Maybe they want a backup for Cole Palmer , that sort of stuff. But there’s definitely a kind of run of players that are like that. I don't moan about it because they're good players. You've brought them in, you understand why. And then after a while, you realise that's a very good player, but he's never getting a game, or he's rarely getting a game

.I think Buonanotte is much, much better off where he's going, and I think Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is much, much better off at Everton, and it may well be that that might happen to one or two other players as well. The one I don't want it to happen to; I really don't want it to happen to Estevao . And that's the concern that he's very young, but I don't want Chelsea to take two or three, four years off his career, and he's still not playing every week. That guy has to play.

At the moment, I understand why he's not playing all the time, because they've got good players in those positions. But in reality, at that age, with his talent, that kid's got to be playing most weeks, if not every week. So, I want to note it's an interesting one. But he's where he should be; he's gone to a better place. As has Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Chelsea’s Keeper Conundrum

Robert Sanchez made some mistakes the week before, but this time he was very good. At the weekend, Chelsea were a bit lucky against Brentford , I have to say, but they won the game. That's all you have to do. He was very good, but it's ups and downs. It's the clear mistakes that people focus on. I mean, if you make great saves, that's fine. But you're making clear and obvious mistakes.

That kind of sticks because goalies don't make many these days when making saves. The top goalies really don't make many except when they try to play from the back. I was thinking about it at the weekend. I'm seeing in every game saves that I saw once every six months when I played. The goalkeeping standard is unbelievable. They're taller, they're more athletic, and I'm not saying every goalkeeper now is better than every goalkeeper a few years ago, but they are extraordinary.

But the downside is that when you make a mistake, it sticks out like a sore thumb. And he's made a few. But I still don't think that's the main problem. The problem is much simpler. If you want to play out from the back, you need a goalkeeper who's good at it. He's not the best at that part. I think that's your biggest problem if you're Chelsea . If you just want a shot-stopper who's very, very good and you can trust, he's alright.

You think he'll do a job, but if you want somebody who's going to play from the back and make intelligent decisions, and you feel comfortable coming out from that, there are better options. And that's maybe the dilemma that they've got going forward.

Do Chelsea Need To Buy A New 'Keeper In January?

Yes, Sanchez isn't good enough

No, Keep The Faith in Sanchez

To Sell or Not to Sell Fernandez?

It's very interesting that the first question we ask is about the money, not the player. And the reason being is it's the correct question. The reason why it's a correct question is because Chelsea's whole business plan was around getting the best young players around the world. He may be worth more than £100million, but whatever the amount, it's a lot for the likes of him and similar players. But if you can resell him for £150million, great. Absolutely brilliant. Well done. This is when we find out, oddly, when the likes of him leave, has this business plan worked?

Was that a good decision to spend staggering amounts of money on young players? And I don't know if they're going to get £100million for him, maybe that's the question. He's a good player. He's a strong leader. I think he's probably just coming into the best part of his career now. But is he a player that's so good that it would be a disaster if Chelsea lose him? No.

No, I don't think it is. I think if they lose the best of Cole Palmer , or Moises Caicedo , or Reece James, maybe they'd worry. But Enzo, it would be disappointing, but could they replace him for a hundred million? Yeah, I think they could.

So I kind of hope he doesn't go, because he's one of the ones whose personality gels with me. But in reality, this could be one of the most interesting things that's happened at the club. If a big club comes in for him and they make a profit, then you've got to point to the business model and say, ‘Hey, that looks like it's working. So it's intriguing from that point of view. From the player's point of view, I would miss him as a player. Definitely, is he replaceable for that money? Yes.

Where Will Chelsea Finish?

So, 13 points probably isn't enough for the top eight. It's right on the edge. I suspect they might need a win and a draw. The win is against Pafos , and a draw against what will be a very lively Napoli side. Watching Napoli , I don't know if anybody was watching their game away to PSV . Now, let's be fair, PSV have had some amazing results, particularly against Liverpool . But that was a six-goal hammering.

So, it's interesting to see what Napoli do. I suspect it will come down to that game. I'd love to cover that one; it's one of those games where I don't know what games they'll be covering in that final phase, but I'd love to be at that one. I think that could have a lot riding on it. So, it's a bit of a shame for Chelsea because they could really do with a break and get into the top eight. If I had to be honest with you, I think it might be just beyond them, and I think they might end up in the playoffs, which is not the end of the world.

2/1

● LIVE ODDS Chelsea Top 8 Finish in League Stage