Mauricio Pochettino has explained why Chelsea accepted deadline day offers for Ian Maatsen and Trevoh Chalobah on transfer deadline day, despite insisting they are both in his plans.
Burnley’s initial loan with £31.5million obligation to buy offer for Maatsen was accepted, while Chelsea were ready to green-light a £25m plus £5m in add-ons offer from Nottingham Forest for Chalobah.
However, both players opted to turn down the moves and stay at Chelsea.
And now, Mauricio Pochettino has come out in defence of the Blues duo.
He said: “What I can tell you is that there is there are two sides [to the situation]. If an offer appears, it is because another part of the club accepted that they move or they were trying to find a solution for a player that wanted to leave.
“You cannot only blame the club, if an offer appears for Jesus [Perez, my assistant], it is because Jesus was open to receiving the offer, no? Come on, we need to also be clever.
“If after that didn’t happen, then I am fair with the player. I will give them a chance to perform and play here. Maybe the player decides to stay after but that’s the business.
“It is not ‘oh the club accepted the offer’ or ‘the player wanted to move’. Come on, it is the business that we know very well.
“The players that are here if they deserve will have the opportunities to play, but they need to be better than the others in their position.”
He added: “It is difficult for me because I am in a position where I don’t know the past but, from now on, I can tell you that I am going to be involved.
“If someone is going to communicate to you about whether a player is in our plan or not: that person is me. Of course, this is much better, for you, the player and the fans.
“Also, it will be easier for the club because the coach is in front of you explaining what is going on.”
