Chelsea boss Graham Potter has responded to perceived criticism from Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola surrounding Chelsea’s £300 million spending spree in January.
As reported by Football London, Klopp’s comments about Chelsea earlier in the week drew some attention.
When asked about new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly’s work since joining the Blues, Klopp responded in a tongue-in-cheek way, stating:
“I say nothing without my lawyer. It’s a big number in the last few windows. The players they brought in, I didn’t think once ‘why did they do that’. They’re all really good players so from that point of view congratulations when you can do it.”
“I don’t understand how it’s possible with all the things around but it’s obviously not [for me] to explain how it works.”
Klopp is obviously referring to Financial Fair Play but he chose not to delve into any further detail.
When Pep Guardiola was asked about Chelsea’s transfer business, he implied that Manchester City would receive a far more negative reaction from the press if it were to spend that amount of money in one window.
“None of my business,” said the Manchester City boss. “I know what would happen [if Manchester City spent that much]. What they do is not my business. There are regulations, I don’t forget, eight or nine teams send a letter [for City] to be banned [from the Champions League]. We are the fifth team in net spend.”
Potter responded to the perceived digs by Klopp and Guardiola, stating:
“It’s normal because we’ve spent the money we’ve spent. The media aren’t going to let that go under the radar, so all of football will be singing that song, that’s for sure.”
“Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. It’s a free world, it’s free speech, which is good. [Klopp and Pep] are entitled to their opinion. I don’t worry too much about that. They’ve got their right to speak, and that’s fair enough.”
“January is very complicated,” Potter added. “As I’ve said before, you’d want things to be more optimal. At the same time, we know the situation we’re in, we know the transition period that we’re in, so it’s always going to be a case of managing in challenging circumstances.”
“I’m certainly not complaining, it’s exciting. It’ll test me, it’ll test my attributes and my quality, and that’s something to be happy for. You see the profile of the players that we brought in.”
