Claude Makelele urges Chelsea fans to give owners and new players time

Former Blues midfielder backs Chelsea to challenge for Premier League title next season and for Enzo Fernandez to come good

Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez, right, has struggled to make an impact since moving to England. Reuters

Former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele believes the Blues are on the right path and has urged supporters to give both the board and the new players time.

A consortium led by LA Dodgers part owner Todd Boehly purchased the Premier League club from Roman Abramovich last year after the Russian was forced to sell for alleged links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The group quickly flexed their financial muscle by spending more than half-a-billion euros over the past two transfer windows on new players.

Despite the huge layout, Chelsea are left with an outsize squad sheared of a prolific centre-forward which has been reflected in performances and results. They are the league's joint-fourth lowest scorers (34) but boast the joint-third best defensive record (39 conceded).

Instead of challenging for a Champions League spot, Chelsea find themselves in the bottom half of the Premier League with no chance of even qualifying for the Europa League.

In fact, 11th-placed Chelsea are closer in points to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest (33 points), their opponents in the league on Saturday, than they are to Manchester United in the fourth Champions League spot. They were eliminated from this season's Champions League 4-0 on aggregate by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and faired badly in domestic cup competitions too.

Frank Lampard has been tasked with overseeing the first-team until the end of the season after the West London club sacked previous manager Graham Potter after only 31 games in charge. Potter had replaced Chelsea's Champions League-winning coach Thomas Tuchel after the German was axed in September.

Former Chelsea and France midfielder Claude Makelele attends a media interview ahead of the 2023 Laureus World Sport Awards Paris at Salles des Tirages. Getty Images

When asked about the prospect of Chelsea not qualifying for Europe for the first time since 2016 Makelele, who represented the club with distinction from 2003 to 2008, said that although the season had been a disappointment, he was confident they could turn it around next term.

“Football is not easy. You can change [a lot of players] and put in a lot of money, but we see many examples where it takes a long time for clubs [to be successful],” Makelele, speaking on the sidelines of the 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards in Paris last week, said in response to questions by The National.

“I don't think it is a negative [for Chelsea to have such a large squad], I think it's positive because they can build a young team for the future.

“We need to give the new Chelsea owners time. In football, you know, there is no time, you need to be winning trophies straight away.

“But I think next year Chelsea will be ready to fight for the Premier League title.”

A huge chunk of Chelsea's more than €600 million outlay was spent on Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez in January.

Bournemouth 1 Chelsea 3: Player ratings

BOURNEMOUTH PLAYER RATINGS: Neto – 6. Can’t be blamed for Chelsea’s first and third goals but he could perhaps have done better with the second, even if it was from close range. Getty

Adam Smith – 6. Had a fairly comfortable first half as Chelsea offered little down his flank but found it more challenging after the introduction of Sterling. Getty

Marcos Senesi – 6. Did well during an even first half but his performance level dropped towards the end of the game as Chelsea twice scored late on. PA

Lloyd Kelly – 7. Bournemouth’s standout defender. Read the game well, was strong in the tackle, and used his pace and anticipation to cut out chances. Getty

Matias Vina – 7. Scored a stunner to level for Bournemouth and had a chance to double his tally when played through by Christie. Defensively, though, was given the runaround by Madueke. AFP

Joe Rothwell – 6. A solid performance but was replaced not long into the second half. Reuters

Jefferson Lerma – 6. Full of running and was effective in patches but overall was second best against Fernandez and the Chelsea midfield. PA

Dango Ouattara – 5. Had a golden chance to score Bournemouth’s second but missed a header from inside the six-yard area. Still searching for his first goal at home. PA

Philip Billing – 6. Busy around the Chelsea area but posed little threat in front of goal. Getty

Ryan Christie – 8. Great skill in the second half to fashion a chance and played a lovely ball into Vina for another good goalscoring opportunity. Bournemouth’s brightest player. AFP

Dominic Solanke – 5. Underwhelming display from the former Chelsea forward. His only half chance was snuffed out by a brilliant Silva sliding tackle. Getty

SUBS: Lewis Cook (Rothwell 59’) – 6. Didn’t make much of an impact for the final half hour. Getty

Jaidon Anthony (Blling 83’) – N/A. Had a decent shot from the edge of the area that didn’t trouble Kepa in the Chelsea goal. Getty

Antoine Semenyo (Christie 84’) – N/A. Getty

David Brooks (Solanke 90’) – N/A. Reuters

CHELSEA PLAYER RATINGS: Kepa Arrizabalaga – 6. No chance with Vina’s strike into the top corner and generally commanded his area well. Tipped away a dangerous cross-turned-shot in the second half. Getty

Trevoh Chalobah – 6. Looked shaky at times as most of Bournemouth’s best attacking moves came down his side. Brought the ball out from the back well, though. PA

Thiago Silva – 7. Produced a superb last-man tackle to deny Billing, which was sent to VAR for a possible penalty. As usual, marshalled his defence well during spells of Bournemouth pressure. Getty

Benoit Badiashile – 8. Should have got tighter to Vina for Bournemouth’s equaliser but more than made amends by scoring his first Chelsea goal to regain the lead. Played some great passes and looked strong in defence. Should be playing more. AFP

Ben Chilwell – 6. A decent showing from the England fullback, although didn’t offer much going forward. Pulled up with what looked like a hamstring issue to continue his rotten injury luck. AFP

N’Golo Kante – 7. Provided the cross for Gallagher’s header to open the scoring and delivered a typically busy and energetic display. An early booking meant he was subbed in the second half to avoid a potential red. PA

Enzo Fernandez – 6. Calm and collected on the ball, always providing an outlet in central midfield. Didn’t exactly control the game but played his part in a long overdue win. PA

Conor Gallagher – 7. Scored a lovely header to give Chelsea the lead and was in the right place to make a goal-line block. Did his job in midfield. AFP

Noni Madueke – 7. Chelsea’s biggest attacking threat, particularly in the first half, but he lacked end product. While he tormented the Bournemouth defence when on the ball, his crossing and shooting let hm down. Looks an exciting talent though. Getty

Kai Havertz – 5. Played across the front line to keep the Bournemouth defence alert but never produced any goal threat. The German is being wasted at centre forward. The next Chelsea manager needs to play Havertz in his preferred role behind the striker. Reuters

Mykhailo Mudryk – 5. Passed the ball with pace and tried to use his speed to good effect but it was ultimately an ineffective display from the Ukrainian winger before getting substituted. Reuters

SUBS: Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Kante 63’) – 6. Decent performance from the substitute to help Chelsea regain control of the game. Getty

Raheem Sterling (Mudryk 63’) – 7. Fantastic run and quick pass to set up Felix for Chelsea’s third. Sterling’s brightest performance for Chelsea in quite some time. AFP

Cesar Azpilicueta (Chilwell 75’) – N/A. Brought on for the injured Chilwell and did his job to help Chelsea close out the victory. AFP

Hakim Ziyech (Madueke 76’) – 8. Immediately provided better end product than Madueke with a cross that just evaded Havertz. Dangerous every time he was on the ball and delivered a brilliant free-kick for Badiashile’s goal. PA

Joao Felix (Havertz 84’) – 7. Scored moments after coming on with a composed first-time finish. AFP

The 22-year-old burst on to the scene in Qatar late last year, helping Argentina to win a third World Cup with some dominant performances.

The Blues paid Benfica a British transfer record £107 million to bring him to Stamford Bridge, but the team's collective struggles means Fernandez has so far struggled to make an impact in England.

Makelele, a mainstay in the French national team where he won 71 caps from 1995-2008, made the move to West London from Real Madrid 20 years ago and said the best was yet to come from Fernandez.

“He is a good player. Any time you win the World Cup, you're clearly a good player,” Makelele, 50, said.

“The Premier League is new for him. Also, when you come later in the season, it is also difficult.

“I think next year [Chelsea] will create a great team and he will be a big part of it.”

Chelsea's interim manager Frank Lampard with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during a training session in Cobham on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 - on the eve of their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid. AFP

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard during training in Cobham on Tuesday. AFP

Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic, left, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during training. AFP

Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah during training on Tuesday. Reuters

Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk takes part in a training session. Reuters

Chelsea's Reece James and Raheem Sterling during training. Reuters

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, centre, and Eder Militao take part in a training session at Valdebebas Sport City. AFP

Karim Benzema trains on Tuesday. EPA

From right: Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr and Aurelien Tchouameni during training. EPA

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti oversees training. EPA

Karim Benzema, left, and Eduardo Camavinga take part in a training session. AFP