Frank Leboeuf believes Chelsea should avoid signing Philippe Coutinho

France World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf believes Chelsea should avoid the signing of Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona during this summer’s transfer window. The west London side were unable to make any new signing last summer due to the transfer ban, but they were able to win their CAS appeal against the embargo in December.
Still, the Blues signed no players during the January transfer window after being unable to pursue some of their preferred targets. In a couple of months, the club are expected to go on a spending spree and reports have emerged that they could look to strengthen the attacking and defensive departments.

Coutinho has been one of the players, who has been heavily linked with a summer move to Stamford Bridge but Leboeuf believes the Blues should stay away from the former Liverpool man due to the number of young players coming through the club’s ranks, he told: “I don’t think so. Coutinho has been good with Liverpool, so far poor with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

“I would have lots of question marks seeing him coming to Chelsea, to bring what?We have young players, very talented, who are very promising. We have good midfield players with [Mateo] Kovacic and Jorginho, to organise the game. I don’t know where his place would be. If I was the chairman, if I was the coach, I would be very hesitant to pick him up.”

Mason Mount has been the regular choice for the number 10 role at Chelsea this term and he has impressed with a tally of six goals and four assists in the Premier League. Apart from him, Christian Pulisic and Callum Hudson-Odoi have also caught the eye despite injury-plagued seasons. The duo have shared the duties on the left side of the attack. As such, a move for Coutinho does not appear as a requirement and the club should focus on landing a world-class striker instead.