Chelsea: Petr Cech tells fans when Blues will 'realistically' next be in title race after Todd Boehly spending | OneFootball

Alex Young @alexwsyoung

Chelsea legend Petr Cech has told Blues fans how long it will be before the club is again challenging for the Premier League title under Mauricio Pochettino and Todd Boehly.

The Blues have not realistically challenged for the title since winning it in 2016-17 under Antonio Conte, having seen Manchester City dominate, Liverpool claim one and Arsenal's return as contenders after two decades.

Co-owner Boehly hoped to restore the Blues to the top of English football after buying the club from Roman Abramovich in the summer of 2022. He has spent over £1 billion on players since but produced a 12th-place finish last season and has seen the team again languish in the bottom half this term.

Former goalkeeper Cech, who worked as a Technical and Performance Advisor at Stamford Bridge before Boehly arrived, believes the Blues will get back on top, but has warned fans they still face quite a wait.

Petr Cech on Sky Sports

Sky Sports

“If you speak about a league title, this season is not going they way they wished for,” Cech said on Sky Sports.

“If they can have a really good strong end of the season and build up for the next season, maybe that’s the season where Chelsea can climb up the table, challenging for top four.

“The season after, is the first realistic year for Chelsea to challenge for the title.”

He added: "The takeover itself is a big change. You have a new owner with a new vision, a new style, a new way they want the club to be run.

"That takes some adaptation, it includes the players and everybody working for the club. These things take time. The team was built a certain way but since I’ve left, there was a complete remake of the squad and it’s challenging for everybody when you have a lot of changes.

"Some of the players probably came in with huge expectations, with a lot of money being spent of them, which creates even more pressure. When the results aren’t there, this squad is really young and I think they sometimes find it hard to live up to those expectations.

"Looking at the games over the last month, you don’t see the spine or the core of the team. The goalkeeper has been changing, the defence has been changing, the midfield and attacking players are changing too.