"So many mistakes!" Chelsea Legend names FIVE big mistakes made by the club this transfer window.

 5 of the biggest mistakes made by Chelsea during the summer clear out we hope will not haunt them and n future. 

Chelsea have begun a massive clear-out of their 2021 Champions League winning squad. A process that has seen the likes of Joao Felix, Edouard Mendy, Mason Mount, N'Golo Kanté, Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz leave the club. While the Blues have realized a whooping £208.8M in player sales, pundit Michael Owen and Rio Ferdinand both believe Chelsea have made some mistakes on their part with selling some players. 

Owen has discussed on Twitter some of the early business from Chelsea this summer.

The pundit is pleased to see the Blues sell players from an oversized group, but suggests a potential error in doing business with the likes of Arsenal and Man City.

He’s mentioned links between Chelsea and Manchester United as well, which we assume refers to the Mason Mount saga. The Guardian has claimed that Chelsea are keen to find a resolution to sell Mount to United.

Owen said: “Transfer window hotting up. Trimming their squad is exactly what Chelsea needed to do but I’m not sure they ought to be selling their players to teams like Arsenal, Man City and maybe Man Utd.”

Owen might just have a point. Selling the club's key players to rival clubs may be one decision that may come back to haunt the club in future, as in the case of Kevin de Bruyne.

Rio Ferdinand on the other hand, believes Chelsea lost it when they sold their midfield duo Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kanté, sold their experience players, and are bringing in new ones who could take time to develop. 

And time, is not always what the impatient Chelsea fans and board want:

'You look at Chelsea's midfield – Jorginho went last season, Kante and Kovacic have gone, Mount and Loftus-Cheek are on their way out,' Ferdinand told his FIVE YouTube channel. 

"That's five midfielders, two or three of them start. There's no midfield at that club at the moment.

'They've got about eight or nine attacking players in the wide areas but the squad lacks balance, they're crying out for some midfielders.

'It's going to be interesting to see where they go because they need someone alongside Enzo, who they spent £100m on.'

One player that the club has consistently been linked with is Brighton's £80m-rated Ecuadorian midfielder Moises Caicedo, who would likely join Fernandez in the middle of the park, should a deal be reached with the Seagulls.

It has been a busy 12 months of recruitment at Stamford Bridge, where Todd Boehly has spent close to £600m on new additions after taking over the club last summer.

However, Ferdinand noted that many of those to leave west London have spent a number of season at the club, and are considered among the more experienced players, as they make way for a number of junior stars to take their places. 

'Are these players Chelsea are buying for the future?' he queried.

'Because they've sold a lot of experience and are bringing in players that look like development players to me.

'They look like they will need time. They've got huge potential but Chelsea need players for now as well.

'Is it a change in tact in their recruitment? It's going to be really interesting to see how Chelsea shape up after the transfer window. Chelsea fans might need to be patient.'

OUR VIEW: 

Let’s hope last year was an off-season and Chelsea will be back competing with the top clubs next season. If they are, we do understand the criticism of directly strengthening a rival.

However, it’s best to look at each case on its individual merit.

We very much would have liked Kovacic to extend his contract and stay at Stamford Bridge, but it’s hard to argue against his sale when there was one year left on his deal. As for selling to Man City, they’re miles ahead of the rest right now and we don’t blame the 29-year-old midfielder for forcing through a switch to the Etihad Stadium.

In our view, the decision to sell Havertz to Arsenal is a lot more debatable. There’s every chance Arsenal will get more from the 24-year-old and he could go on to bigger thinks. You can’t say he’s not had enough chances during three years as a Chelsea player, though.

Edouard Mendy's departure is quite justified, including that of Koulibaly. The former was keen on leaving, the latter left for personal reasons, and was not the player Chelsea wanted him to be. 

However, what's saddening is that these experienced players are leaving, and developing players would come in. 

The question is, will Chelsea be patient enough with time? Will the massive clear-out of first team players not affect them in future? 

Time Will tell.