Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson says Chelsea need to sign more “ball-winners” to compete at the top end of the Premier League.

The ex-Arsenal player has likened the Blues’ current squad to ones that Arsene Wenger built near the end of his reign at the Gunners, where there were too many players who were only good on the ball:

“It’s an unbalanced squad. Chelsea have lorryloads of ball-players but absolutely no ball-winners when N’Golo Kante isn’t playing. They are going to end up like Arsenal in the last days of Arsene Wenger – great with the ball, terrible without it.”

It is an interesting point by Merson, and if you do look at Chelsea’s squad, there is some credence to his argument, if you consider the midfielders that manager Frank Lampard has at his disposal.

Out of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Jorginho, Billy Gilmour and Mason Mount, there is only really two you could say who are strong out of possession and are able to win the ball back quickly.

Considering Lampard built this squad, though, the fault very much lies with him here. He is believed to be very interested in West Ham’s Declan Rice but the fact that he didn’t prioritise his signing above the likes of Kai Havertz suggests he didn’t see the lack of “ball-winners” as a major issue in the summer.