Nevin: Chelsea can cope without Willian and Pedro
Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin is confident the Blues will have little trouble coping if Pedro and Willian both leave as expected in the summer.
The wingers have been key men for Chelsea in recent seasons, with Willian a vital part of boss Frank Lampard’s young side this term.
Brazilian Willian, 31, has made 37 appearances this season but, like Pedro, 32, he is out of contract this summer.
Nevin played for Chelsea between 1983 and 1988 and is now a respected pundit.
He told West London Sport: “Pedro is definitely going as far as I understand.
“There is a question mark with Willian but will it be something that Chelsea fans will be overly worrying about? No.”
Spaniard Pedro has been troubled by minor injuries and has also spent long parts of the season out of the side, making just eight Premier League starts.
With Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi both getting back to fitness after injury-interrupted seasons and Hakim Ziyech already signed from Ajax, Lampard seems well stocked in wide areas.
Nevin believes the adaptability of the players and the tactics employed by Lampard and assistant Jody Morris also gives plenty of options in midfield.
Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Ross Barkley and Billy Gilmour are all competing for places.
“Pulisic is coming on, Callum is there and they won’t always play with wingers anyway because Frank plays with a 4-3-3,” Nevin said.
‘Chelsea will be OK’
Nevin also believes his former club will not be too severely financially hit by the coronavirus crisis – and that Chelsea’s youngsters could benefit if the pandemic affects transfer business.
“I have a suspicion and a feeling that Chelsea will be OK,” he said.
“Financially they will not be too bad. If you talk about the young players, they will grow and that’s fantastic.
“There might be something in the economics that makes it difficult to bring players in.
“But if they can’t buy any players then they can just carry on.
“Some clubs will have to have fire sales that you wouldn’t believe. Some clubs will be able to deal with it well and be in an amazing position. Some clubs could be in danger of folding.
“You look at some of the clubs living on debt and you stick another massive amount of debt on top of that, which is what they are going to get, and the fundamentals are in a bad way for a lot of clubs right now.”
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