‘It’s panic buying’ – Martin Keown slams Chelsea for signing £62m player
Martin Keown, a former defender for Arsenal, has criticized Chelsea’s choice to spend more than £60million on the signing of Marc Cucurella.
However, The 24-year-transfer old’s to Chelsea was confirmed on Friday, and Keown has joined the likes of Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville in criticizing the decision.
The Arsenal great claims that buying Cucurella at a time when Chelsea already has Ben Chilwell and Marcos Alonso is a last-minute decision.
Keown told talkSPORT: “Chelsea have gone out and paid £60-odd million for Cucurella – I think that’s nonsensical.”
“It’s an incredible amount of money. I think it’s too much. Cucurella, as good as he is, I think there are still players out there that are better.
“To pay that kind of money with Ben Chilwell still there, [Marcos] Alonso’s still there. It does feel like it’s panic buying.”
“If you look at last season, if I had to say of the top four teams, if there’s one that could slide out of the top four, it could be Chelsea,” Keown added.
“Thomas Tuchel is an outstanding manager but all of his support team around him have disappeared. So there’s a bit of change there.
“The new owner’s come in and he wants to make a difference. On the eve of the new season he’s making a statement with that kind of signing. Is it overspending? I think maybe it is.”