"This is the player" - Asmir Begovic names midfielder Chelsea should have signed instead of Moises Caicedo in record transfer
Former Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic wonders why the Blues went for Moises Caicedo instead of Declan Rice this summer. The Bosnian shot-stopper, who plays for EFL Championship side Queens Park Rangers, has questioned the West London outfit's transfer activity in the midfield department.
Begovic said on The Byline YouTube channel:
“If you’re spending £115m on Caicedo, surely you spend £120m on Declan Rice. I don’t know Declan personally. Sure, I’m not saying he doesn’t want to play for Arsenal, but hand on heart I would think he would want to go to Chelsea."
He added, criticizing the club's signing of Enzo Fernandez:
"How is Declan Rice going somewhere else? This is the player. I’m not saying I don’t like Enzo Fernandez, but if we’re going to spend £230 million on Fernandez and Caicedo, I’d like Declan Rice instead.”
The Blues secured Caicedo's services this summer for a British record transfer fee of £115 million from Brighton & Hove Albion, beating out major interest from Liverpool.
Chelsea surpassed their own record that they set in the January transfer window when they signed World Cup winner Fernandez from Benfica for £106.8 million.
The West London outfit have been linked with Rice for quite some time, given that the midfielder spent the majority of his formative years in the club's academy. However, they were unable to secure his signature as Arsenal signed the England international for £105 million this summer.
"It’s a mid-table squad" - Asmir Begovic slams Chelsea's owners in astonishing rant over club's transfer activity
Begovic has lambasted the club's hierarchy in an explosive rant over their extravagant transfer activity in recent times. Since Todd Boehly's takeover of the West London outfit last summer, they have spent in excess of £1 billion, setting multiple transfer records in the process.
Despite breaking the bank for the past year in the transfer window, the Blues have nothing to show for it. The club finished 12th in the Premier League table during the 2022/23 campaign after securing just 11 wins the entire season.
The Blues are off to a poor start this term as well under new manager Mauricio Pochettino. They are currently 12th in the league standings after one win, one draw, and two losses.
Begovic has ripped into the club for their shortcomings in recent times. The Bosnian goalkeeper said:
“What has happened to Chelsea FC? I remember being in the dressing room being around players, world class, world class; world class, buying from Real Madrid, buying from Barcelona, buying from Bayern Munich, it’s like, buying from Brighton and buying potential players.
“I get you need a part of that but where is the world class players, Chelsea fans expect the best, we were talking about this before but Chelsea was THE standard, from top to bottom that Roman and Marina had, the first team squad was a joke, the standard was unbelievable.
"These players at his disposal, it’s a mid table squad, this is NOT Chelsea Football Club, I don’t understand, you don’t see Man City rebuilding, even if they are, they are 5th or 6th at worst, which isn’t even good enough."