Chelsea manager Graham Potter has revealed his plans to trim the squad during the summer transfer window. The club brought in nine new signings during the January transfer window, which has left the squad bloated. Potter was forced to leave some players out of the Champions League squad and several big names don’t make the bench for Premier League games. Potter intends to address the issue of a bloated squad by reducing the size of the team. However, he is keen to keep midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who is out of contract in the summer of 2024 and has been linked with a reunion with Thomas Tuchel at Bayern Munich.
Potter is hopeful that Kovacic will sign a new deal with Chelsea. He has a huge respect for Kovacic as a person and believes he has been great with the team. Kovacic plays an important role in the team and has been the captain in recent games. Potter believes that the club has conversations with players all the time, and it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s public. These things happen behind the scenes, and when they have something to report, they will announce it.
Kovacic had a tough pre-World Cup due to an ongoing knee issue that he’s been nursing and getting through pretty much all season. However, he has handled himself fantastically and done the work behind the scenes to be available all the time. Potter believes that the World Cup was a great experience for him and a break from everything. Kovacic has come back in a really good way and has been showing his quality, leadership, and has turned into a goal-machine during the international break.
Potter prefers to work with smaller, more manageable squads resulting in fewer disgruntled fringe players. The size of the squad is something they have to look at for the summer, but in the meantime, that’s what they’re working with. The players have been fantastic in terms of how professional, how together, and how supportive they have been of each other regardless of the fact that they are where they are.
Potter was forced to leave some players out of the Champions League squad and several big names don’t make the bench for Premier League games. This problem is only being exacerbated as players return from injury. Potter intends to address the issue of a bloated squad by reducing the size of the team. The longer he works with the team, the better it gets. However, there are still things they need to carry on improving with.
In conclusion, Potter is hopeful that Kovacic will sign a new deal with Chelsea. He believes that Kovacic is important to the team and plays an important role in the team. Potter prefers to work with smaller, more manageable squads resulting in fewer disgruntled fringe players. The size of the squad is something they have to look at for the summer, but in the meantime, that’s what they’re working with. The players have been fantastic in terms of how professional, how together, and how supportive they have been of each other regardless of the fact that they are where they are.