FORMER Chelsea ace William Gallas has criticised new owner Todd Boehly for his “rushed” transfer splurge this summer and the “desperate” signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Blues splashed a Premier League record £271.1million as they signed the likes of Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana, Denis Zakaria and of course Aubameyang.
The ex-Arsenal star arrived in dramatic fashion on transfer deadline day after former manager Thomas Tuchel requested a reunion with his ex-Borussia Dortmund frontman.
But their reunion barely lasted a week and the striker only played for 59 minutes under Tuchel, who was sacked on Wednesday after a poor start to the season and has been replaced by Graham Potter.
Gallas insists Boehy failed to approach the transfer window in the correct manner and is convinced he should have done better.
The former France international also suggested Aubameyang arrived from Barcelona only because he became available rather than being an actual top target.
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Gallas told Genting Casino: “I feel like Chelsea’s transfer window, despite the amount of the money spent, was rushed. There were a lot of changes happening at the club this summer with the new owner coming in and taking a hands-on role with recruitment.
“I think that Boehly and Chelsea wanted to make signings as a new owner to demonstrate his commitment to the club, but I don’t think he had quite the right approach for this transfer window.
“They spent a lot of money, but I’m convinced they could have done better. It is difficult to understand football at the moment. Look at Aubameyang.
“He left Arsenal in January, something obviously happened between him and the club, went to Barcelona and now he is coming back to the Premier League after six months.
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“We are talking about Barcelona. You don’t leave Barcelona after six months, do you know what I mean? Maybe Barcelona didn’t give him the assurances that he wanted at his age that he would play every week, they also signed [Robert] Lewandowski.
“Maybe Xavi told him that he won’t be in his starting eleven every week, but this is Barcelona! Even if he is 33 years old, you need to fight at a club like Barcelona to play.
“I know there are some fans that are not very happy with the move, but as I said before, I feel like the Chelsea board rushed the transfer window and were desperate to bring a forward in before the window closed.
“It feels like he was a player that was signed because he became available, rather than necessarily a long-held target.
“I’m sure they couldn’t sign another forward before the window closed, and as a result, Aubameyang was a player they could get, so they got him.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
