Chelsea ‘need’ Man Utd man as Gullit dismisses Fabregas, Nunez claims – ‘No, no, no’ | OneFootball

Ruud Gullit has told Chelsea three players they “need first” and raised doubts over his former club appointing Cesc Fabregas as their new manager.

Liam Rosenior was sacked last month after just 106 days in charge after Enzo Maresca was given his marching orders by owners BlueCo in January.

Chelsea have now lost six Premier League games on the bounce and reached a nadir in the 3-1 defeat to a second-string Nottingham Forest side last time out to leave them in ninth place.

They still have the chance to win silverware this season after booking their place in the FA Cup final with Manchester City through an impressive win over Leeds in interim boss Calum McFarlane’s first game back in charge.

The BlueCo model has seen Chelsea spend £1.8bn on largely unproven young talent and it’s failed spectacularly, with the American owners turning a trophy-winning machine into a laughing stock.

And Gullit – a consistent critic of the strategy – remains perplexed by the the club’s direction and believes they “need a Casemiro” to turn things around.

The former Blues player and manager “It looks like they get a bunch of the best young players, and the coach who comes in has to deal with what’s there — with no input on who arrives. They need a Casemiro. ‘I need players with experience in midfield’ — and if you don’t have them, it’s going to be a problem.”

Andoni Iraola has emerged as a ‘leading candidate’ to take the reins at Stamford Bridge, but Fabregas has also been linked with a return after his impressive leadership of Como sees them battling for Champions League qualification in Serie A.

But Gullit drew a cautionary comparison with Xabi Alonso, who excelled in charge of Bayer Leverkusen before coming a cropper at Real Madrid.

Gullit added: “We thought the same thing about Xabi Alonso. He was fantastic in Germany — then suddenly everyone said he could do it anywhere. It’s not the same. As a coach you have to adapt to the club’s philosophy, and you need to get the players you want to execute it.”

Fellow Chelsea hero Marcel Desailly recently said Chelsea should make a move for Darwin Nunez, who’s on the verge of leaving Al Hilal, but Gullit rubbished the suggestion.

“No, no, no. Let’s start from the back,” Gullit said. “You need a good centre-half, a good experienced central midfielder, and a goalkeeper. Three good players with experience — that’s what Chelsea need first.”