Florent Malouda: Chelsea should wait until the summer to sign players like Declan Rice for next season’s title charge

And Malouda thinks that right now Chelsea should only recruit players of the highest quality who will challenge for a first team spot and move to the next level, and that West Ham’s Declan Rice, PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, and Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland are all realistic targets.

“I think [Chelsea] have already started preparing for next season with the new contract of Thiago Silva, looking to keep [Antonio] Rudiger, and thinking about replacements for players that might leave,” said Malouda. “Every top team need to strengthen and look at the market to try and become the best team. I don’t think there’s too many players who will improve Chelsea right now, so they should wait for players like [Erling] Haaland and [Kylian] Mbappe…those players are the type of players who will improve them.

“I think Declan Rice could be interesting, not just because he was there before, but he’s a young player who has the experience of delivering for his club and national team so he could be a good option for Chelsea. He [Rice] delivered at Euro 2020 and has continued that form with West Ham.

“Adding players will depend on contract situations and what’s available. Ousmane Dembele [of Barcelona] is also interesting as he’s free in the summer, but would he suit the Premier League? I think to strengthen they don’t need lots of players, just players who will add quality.

“The squad has balance, so it’s just about adding players who will bring more of this. It’s too early to assess these players because you want those who are performing at the top level for their teams at that moment. Chelsea’s DNA is to bring in the best players and challenge for trophies, so they should look at doing that.”

Malouda has been in awe of Manchester City this season, and while the Blues don’t look like catching Pep Guardiola’s runaway side in the Premier League title race, he believes there’s still plenty to be optimistic about due to the silverware still on offer in the current campaign.

“When you look recently when Chelsea played against City, the game was close. It was a great game!” said Malouda. “Chelsea had opportunities to win, but when you compare yourself to the best in the country, I think Chelsea are of the same calibre of City…but they are efficient and took their chances. That’s the difference. City played like champions, and you can see players stepping up when the game is close and that’s why they will be champions this season.

“I think with the quality that there is in the Premier League, finishing in the top four is good…but when you have the ambition to become champion then second and third is disappointing, of course. You have to be focused and win at all costs, and that’s what City have done. I hope when the full Chelsea squad is available that will help, and they will be prepared to say the season is not over. They can still win a treble which would be great.”

Alan Shearer spoke about potential issues in the Chelsea dressing room after spotting muted celebrations following Hakim Ziyech’s opener against Brighton earlier in the week, but Malouda doesn’t believe there’s any problems within the squad.

“I don’t think there are dressing room issues,” he said. “You have players who celebrate this way. It’s just a way of celebrating. I am not sure who the message is for, but everyone isn’t about celebrating goals in a wild way. The most important thing is scoring a goal. If you could score five goals and celebrate like that it wouldn’t be an issue.”  

Malouda is expecting Chelsea to get back to winning ways against Spurs this weekend.