Gianfranco Zola and Rio Ferdinand agree over Graham Potter’s biggest Chelsea challenge

Gianfranco Zola and Rio Ferdinand have been discussing the the test facing Graham Potter over his inflated Chelsea squad.

The Blues spent hundreds of millions again during the January transfer window, and it has left them with a 33-man squad, one that is bursting at the seems with talent. On one hand, that might be a good problem for a manager to have, but it’s also particularly difficult to manage such a big squad, with so many players missing out on football each week.

There are going to be disgruntled stars aplenty, and Potter does not have experience of working at club from the very top level, so he will be learning and working on the fly when it comes to managing those top-level players.

Speaking about those challenges, Chelsea legend Zola told BT Sport ahead of Saturday’s clash with West Ham: “I can tell you, I’ve been in that situation with Watford when the club bought so many new players and we had to train 28 players. The coaches went crazy because we had to organise two sessions every day to coach all of them.

“It’s very, very difficult for the coaches and the players, because sometimes you can be on the group B training, and psychologically it is not nice.”

Ferdinand also weighed in, saying: “One of the big things for Potter is how does he deal with big superstars? How does he manage them day-to-day? He has never had those superstars, so one of the key things is how he handles that.

“None of us would have anticipated the number of players who come through the door, big players with personalities. How does he deal with those now, and not only managing them, but managing disappointment every week. He has players who expect to start, and he has to tell them now ‘sorry, not this week’. That’s difficult.”