Pat Nevin questions Liverpool’s spending and suggests Chelsea have a better model | OneFootball

Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin has questioned Liverpool’s spending and suggests Chelsea have a better model.

Nevin, who has not always been so complimentary of Chelsea’s new owners in recent times, seems to be fully behind the project and the transfer strategy we are seeing from them right now.

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According to The Daily Mirror, Liverpool ultimately spent £446million – the largest outlay in Premier League history.

Chelsea reportedly spent £284m on new signings, but they sold a lot of players as well and ended with net profit.

Nevin rates Chelsea’s business over Liverpool

Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart with Behdad Eghbali.

Nevin argues that Chelsea’s more measured recruitment strategy – targeting young talent with strong resale value – is the smarter long-term play, and one that could yield greater rewards than Liverpool’s high-risk, high-reward spending.

“Isak is someone I can see Chelsea potentially going for, but if you’re spending £125m, you’re not making a profit if you sell in four years,” Nevin said speaking exclusively to Mirror Football. “Isak would do the job for you, but Chelsea don’t look at it that way.

“This is Chelsea’s method. They won’t buy players without a potential resale value. It’s happened with plenty of clubs in the past where they’ve spent big on a player, and when it doesn’t work out, there’s no resale. Chelsea don’t like that. That’s not the model.”

“The club have brought Joao Pedro in for half the price of Isak. Is Isak really twice the player that Joao Pedro is? I don’t think so,” the former Scotland international said. “He’s a fabulous player, he’s probably better than Joao Pedro at the moment, but if you’re looking at smart money, then Chelsea have got the better deal.

“Chelsea would have made back that Joao Pedro money from the sales they’ve made this summer and from the Club World Cup as well. The model looks alright to me. Don’t get me wrong, Chelsea have spent a lot of money, but they’ve recouped that money as well.

“Chelsea are right amongst the top when it comes to spending over the past few years, but they would say they’ve been sensible. They’re back in the Champions League, they’ve won the Club World Cup, so actually, you can see the model is working.”

“Some of the players they’ve brought in are great value,” Nevin, who also played for Everton, added. “Estevao might be the best value of the lot. He’s only a kid, but he looks like a brilliant footballer. If he’s this good now, you can only imagine how good he’ll be if he keeps on improving.

“So, the way Chelsea look at it is, do we go for this talented 18-year-old or go out and sign Florian Wirtz for £100m+? You’ll only know in three or four years who was right, but I think it’s a close call from what I’ve seen.”