Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola says he is “surprised” that both Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic were allowed to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.

The pair were sold for a combined £90m (including add-ons) but Zola feels his former club have let go of two “very important players”:

“I am surprised to have seen so many players leaving. I was surprised to see Mason leaving, also Kovacic leaving. They were very important players, not only for the quality they used to give the team but, with Mason, he is one of the midfielders who could score goals. In my opinion, they are a big miss.”

“I don’t mention [N’Golo] Kante because he was injured the whole season last season but the other two are very key players. It will be interesting to see how Pochettino can compensate for that and I am looking forward to seeing how that will deliver.”

Chelsea couldn’t let both players leave for free

Many fans were left disappointed by the nature of Mount’s departure from the club, in particular. Mistakes were clearly made in how contract negotiations were handled but, when it became clear that the England international would not sign a new deal, a sale to Manchester United became inevitable.

Kovacic’s situation was slightly different. The Croatian had a rather disappointing 2022/23 campaign and there was never any genuine talk about extending his stay with the Blues. With less than a year remaining on his contract, it was decided that receiving £25m to £30m from offloading him now was better than letting him go on a free transfer next summer. It was, however, surprising that he was allowed to go to Manchester City.

Finding Replacements has proven to be difficult

Chelsea have yet to replace either Mount or Kovacic, and the midfield is now significantly weaker compared to this time last year, with Jorginho and Kante having also left.

Attempts to sign Brighton’s Moises Caicedo and Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus have been made but, so far, no one has arrived at Cobham to strengthen that area of the pitch.