Chelsea eye ‘marquee signing’ with Pochettino ‘frustrated’ by ‘lack of impact’ from £108m duo

Mykhaylo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling have failed to impress Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly ‘seriously unimpressed’ by Chelsea wingers Mykhaylo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling and is eyeing a ‘marquee signing’ in their position.

Murdryk joined the Blues for around £60million in January 2023, six months after Sterling joined for a fee in the region of £48m.

Sterling, Mudryk failing to impress Chelsea boss Pochettino

Both players have struggled to justify their transfer fees, despite Sterling showing at the start of 2023/24 that he could be a big player under Pochettino.

It has been a dismal few months for the former Manchester City forward, who has fallen out of favour for England and is highly unlikely to go to this summer’s European Championships.

The 29-year-old has only started and finished one Premier League match this year and was an unused substitute in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Sheffield United.

Mudryk at least came off the bench at Bramall Lane but he has also been a huge disappointment since moving to west London.

Arsenal were very keen on signing the Ukrainian winger before Chelsea swooped in and met Shakhtar Donetsk’s asking price.

The Gunners turned their attention to Brighton’s Leandro Trossard, who joined for around £20m and has been outstanding, scoring several crucial goals, including the equaliser in Tuesday’s Champions League draw at home to Bayern Munich.

Mudryk has started 16 games this season and is still struggling to make an impact, which has cast doubt over his future at Chelsea, despite the fact he is under contract until 2031.

A report from Football Insider does not say the Blues are looking to sell the 23-year-old but there is talk of Nico Williams being signed to play in his and Sterling’s position on the left wing.

It is claimed that Blues boss Pochettino has been ‘seriously unimpressed’ by Mudryk’s lack of improvement since his arrival as head coach last summer.

Pochettino and his staff have ‘grown frustrated with the lack of impact’ from the Ukrainian and Sterling, which is why Chelsea ‘will be in the market for a marquee new winger signing’ this summer.

As mentioned before, Athletic Bilbao winger Williams is a top target and is available for £43m thanks to a release clause in his contract.

Chelsea are definitely interested in the 21-year-old but a report on Tuesday from AS in Spain said Williams is ‘tempted’ by Liverpool, Tottenham and Aston Villa.

Liverpool will be in the Champions League next season, while Villa and Spurs compete for fourth in the Premier League, with the possibility that fifth place will be enough to qualify for Europe’s premier competition.

Chelsea will not be able to offer players that over the summer and there are doubts over their ability to qualify for any European competition at this stage.

The Blues are currently ninth in the Premier League and the Europa Conference League looks like the best-case scenario for Pochettino’s side, with the Argentine manager under growing pressure to avoid the sack.