Joe Cole fires warning to Todd Boehly ahead of summer transfer window – ‘Who wants Chelsea?’

Joe Cole has asked “who wants to go to Chelsea?” in a warning to owner Todd Boehly ahead of the summer transfer window.

Chelsea lost 2-0 to Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, meaning they have now failed to score in their last four games in all competitions.

The goal shy season means they sit an incredible 17 points adrift of Manchester United in fourth spot, so won’t be competing in the Champions League next term unless they mount a stunning comeback to beat Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge, before going all the way to win the competition this season.

A striker is the priority for the Chelsea owners in the summer, but Cole has raised doubts as to whether his former club will be able to attract a top marksman.

“We’re not talking about who do Chelsea get. Who wants to go to Chelsea if they’re playing in the Europa Conference League? We have to be honest,” Cole told BT Sport.

“And the owners as well, they’ve come and in and they’ve done what all good owners do: they’ve spent money. You have to praise them for that, they’re good people, they want to do what’s right for the club.

“But they probably have to look at themselves and go, ‘Right, who’s advising us on these players? Why have we got nine number 10 wingers when we could have got a number nine?’

“We don’t know the ins and outs, but the problem lies with the recruitment over the last 12 months I think.

“You can’t rely on any player to get you 20 goals. No-one in this squad has scored more than 20 goals in a season in their career. So what makes you think they’re going to do that now? That’s the overall problem.

“The immediate problem is confidence. There’s quality players here who can score goals, but their confidence is low. So that’s up to Frank [Lampard] and his coaching staff to coach that out of them somehow.”

, who scored 35 goals in all competitions last season and has added a further 17 this term despite significant time out through injury.

But Rio Ferdinand isn’t convinced the Frenchman is the answer.

“They’ve got Nkunku coming in the summer, but again he’s not an out-and-out number nine. He’s coming up as a young player coming off the wide areas, or playing as a 10 in a free role behind the striker. So the balance in the squad isn’t there.”