Gary Neville has issued a brutal verdict over Chelsea duo Joao Pedro and Liam Delap, who cost the club a combined total of £90m this summer.
Chelsea signed the two strikers from Brighton and Ipswich Town respectively, with Pedro arriving in a £60m deal and Delap costing £30m.
The pair were set for a battle to become Enzo Maresca’s No.1 choice – but Pedro has established himself as the preferred option after a glowing start – while Delap suffered a hamstring injury.
Pedro has conjured up two goals and three assists across his opening five Premier League games for Chelsea but Neville is adamant that he and Delap are not top strikers when compared to some of their top-flight rivals.
Neville firmly believes that Liverpool duo Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, along with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, are far superior that Chelsea’s current options up top.
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‘I have to say, they (Chelsea) look well short for me, still, up front,’ the football pundit and former defender said on The Gary Neville Podcast.
‘For all the money that they’ve spent, and I know they’ve got good players, he’s got Delap and Joao Pedro, who’s a good player.
‘But they’re still not at that level, where you think that they’re nothing like Haaland, or Isak or even Ekitike for that matter.’
Haaland has been in fine form for City this season, registering six goals in five Premier League games.
Ekitike has shined at Liverpool this term too since his £79 summer arrival, with four goal involvements (three goals and an assist) in five matches.
Isak scored 23 Premier League goals last season for Newcastle United before he joined Liverpool on deadline day in a £125m British record deal.
Meanwhile, fellow football pundit Jamie Carragher feels Chelsea’s problems are at the other end of the pitch.
The former Liverpool defender believes Chelsea’s goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and the club’s current options in central defence will rule them out of the Premier League title race.
‘I think some Chelsea fans think I’ve got it in for them but I think the manager has actually done a brilliant job since he’s come in,’ Carragher said on Sky Sports.
‘My criticism with Chelsea is that the three-and-a-half years the owners have been there and they have that team, we’re sat here saying they’ve got no chance for the league and Chelsea fans know that too.
‘My big problem with Chelsea is not to do with Maresca as such, it’s the three-and-a-half years with the money that’s been spent and you turn up at Old Trafford with that goalkeeper and those centre backs (Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana).’
Chelsea, who won the Conference League last season and Club World Cup this summer, lost 2-1 at Manchester United in their last match.
The Blues are back in action on Tuesday with a Carabao Cup game against Lincoln City before they host Brighton at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
