Gallas believes Chelsea can’t continue if they don’t find a striker plus all things top four.

Our sports team had a very informative interview with William Gallas, a former professional footballer who played in the top teams of the premier league, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. An interview that got many links after expressing his concern for the teams but also hopes for new signings to the big three. The interview caught many people's attention, gaining links on many sporting websites with comments from Gallas. These varied from his view on Arteta's chances of being sacked if Arsenal doesn't reach the top four or the fact that Chelsea’s consequences if they don't get a good striker in time for the start of the 2022/23 season.

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How important will signing Fofana, who is a younger defender, be for Chelsea this season?

It is very important for Chelsea to sign these young defenders. Firstly, while they had young players at the club already, some did not perform very well. That is why they signed the two centre-backs this summer. Tuchel needs at least one more player who is very strong with experience, but there are other defenders who are at least 30 years old already at the club. Therefore, to sign someone like Fofana is a good idea, but they cannot be crazy about the price.

My problem with the deal for Fofana is the fee is crazy. Obviously you need to sign good players, but I heard they want to pay 85M for him. 85M is a lot of money. Chelsea have had the opportunity to sign young players who would have been cheaper, such as Kounde. He’s played in the national team and in La Liga and he is going to be a top class player. Chelsea failed to do a deal with the player though, who would have gone for less money.

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Now, I think Chelsea are in a rush and they are acting a little crazy. However, they should not be paying 85M. I like Fofana, he is unbelievable. He was great in his first season at Leicester then picked up his injury. 85M is not the price that should be put on him though.

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Chelsea did not create many opportunities in the Everton game. If you could pick one attacker for Chelsea to sign, who would you choose?

That is a question for the people who are in charge. They need to find players who are right for the club, and the recruitment team need to do a good job.

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However, they should have known they had to sign a striker a few months ago. I don’t know why they are mainly linked with defenders when Lukaku did not stay and Timo Werner did not perform well over his two years at Chelsea. The recruitment team’s job had to do a better job there, in order to try and find the right player for Chelsea.

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To be honest, I do not know which striker will come in as it is very difficult to find because the window is shutting soon. I don’t know how they will do this.

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Would Aubameyang and Depay be good additions to Chelsea?

If Aubameyang can leave Barcelona, it would be good but he only just joined them. I would take Aubameyang though, as he is really experienced in the Premier League, and he will fit in straight away with the players.

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Do you think Frenkie De Jong would be a good signing for Chelsea, and what would that mean for the likes of Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek?

De Jong is a great player. He is still young but he is so experienced in the way he plays. I don’t think Chelsea have to go for someone of that profile though. Chelsea already have players like him.

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They should go for someone like Casemiro or Rodri instead. They are strong guys who stay in front of their defenders. They have good impacts physically as well. That is why I would not sign De Jong, because they already have players who are a little bit similar.

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Arsenal looked impressive, does Ben White have to get used to playing Right Back?

He'll play some games in that position, I'm sure he'll still play centre-back because he is one, but White will help the team on the right. I don't think he will impress in that right back position. What's good about football nowadays, systems can change from four at the back to three at the back, Arsenal can play both systems. Ben White can play in the center with a three or on the right of a four if he needs to help the team, but I don't see him playing right back all season.

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How good is Saliba and what kind of talent do Arsenal have?

Saliba is a really good player. He had a great season at Marseille, now he's back at Arsenal, it is a big step. He will show what he can really do. Last season he was upset to leave Arsenal on loan.

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When I look at him, he reminds me of a player I used to play against, and that player is Rio Ferdinand. If you look at how Saliba plays, and how Rio did when he was young, they have the same style.

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I didn't say he will have the same career, but I hope he does. He just has a similar style to Ferdinand. I think Saliba will surprise a lot of people, as he plays more games and gains more confidence, because he has pressure on his shoulders, he's still so young and has much to prove, he will be even better.

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Will Jesus be a contender for the golden boot?

Jesus definitely has that potential, we saw that at Manchester City. I watched Man City vs West Ham, Haaland is going to be the top scorer in the Premier League. In his first game he scored two goals straightaway and it shows he's ready for a new league and country. Jesus won't be too far from Haaland.

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Is Arteta under pressure if they don't get top four? Could he get sacked?

Of course he will be in trouble. Arteta has been asked to make the top four and he didn't do it last season. If Arsenal don't play in the Champions League next season, it would cause a lot of drama. They have to have a great season, possibly win the Premier League, but definitely to qualify for the Champions League.

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They have just bought new players, it's in the hands of Arteta and the players. It will be a big problem for all of them if they don't do their job to qualify in the Champions League.

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What's going on with Man United at the moment?

There is too much pressure on the shoulders of the managers, especially after Sir Alex Ferguson's reign. There's also pressure on the owners [Glazers], because they haven't won the Premier League for a long time. Players are not performing and I'm not sure why, they have good young players.

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Everyone talks about Ronaldo because he has a big ego, forget about Ronaldo, think about the other players out there, do you think they are performing their best? I don't think so.

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Sancho, Maguire, Rashford, they don't perform. You have to consistently perform over a season to play in the Premier League. They have to find a solution.

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Would Sir Alex have accepted this transfer window they're having?

No, Sir Alex would have been mad, he would have got players before the end of the transfer market window. All clubs seem to get deals last minute now, and so are Man United right now. That’s why Man United have spent so much money, they are buying players just to make the fans happy, but the players end up not performing. I'm sure Sir Alex is not happy with the current situation at the club.

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Would Rabiot be a good signing? Do you rate him?

I'm not sure it's not a good choice to bring him to Man United. Rabiot was a good player when he played at PSG, when he went to Juventus, he hasn't had a good season. Maybe he will return to form at Manchester United, but the Premier League is tougher and more physical, he needs to be ready for it. Players don't understand the levels of physicality of the Premier League until they witness it first-hand.

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What are your top four predictions?

As an ex-London player, I have to say Chelsea, Arsenal or Tottenham to win the Premier League. After watching Man City, they are still strong, Liverpool will still be there.

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It will be difficult for the London clubs to be honest. If Chelsea does not buy the right striker, they will not finish in the top four. Arsenal will be in the top four for sure. Liverpool can miss out because they don't have Sadio Mane anymore and Diaz does not have the same impact. Liverpool always concede goals too, like against Fulham. Even if I like how they play, I think it will be City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.

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With the business that Chelsea have done this summer, it looks like they're going to spend a lot more in the market before it closes. Is there a lot of pressure on Tuchel to deliver with a big summer spend?

Normally, the manager receives pressure especially when they manage a big club like Chelsea, I think, even if Chelsea are going to spend a lot of money, the pressure will be the same. I think Chelsea, it's not Tuchel who wants the pressure, I think Chelsea have pressure right now because they bring players that        for the owner he has to be careful with the crazy money being spent. You can spend a lot of money on one player and then that player does not perform very well for example; Timo Werner. They spent 50 million pounds and he only stayed for two years and then went back to his former club so they have to be careful. I think football is really crazy, people don’t know how to spend their money. I’m not a big fan of this.

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TOTTENHAM

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A lot of people say Tottenham could be the dark horse for the title like Brad Friedel for example. Do you think it's too early to stay that way or do you think they can do something special under Conte this season?

I think Conte can make a surprise. I don't know if they are going to be champions. When they played against Southampton, they looked good but they didn't look strong enough, perhaps it was because it was the beginning of the season. Maybe we have to give them a few more games to show what they can really do. That squad is better than last season, with Cnte, I think they can do a good job this season and if they are consistent then maybe. We like football because anything can happen.

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One player that shone in that game was Dejan Kulusevski. He got a goal and an assist. Do you think it’s going to be quite difficult for Richarlison to break into the team with Kulusevski playing at the level he is right now?

Yeah I think he has to be passionate and that will be the key to his success for his future. Sometimes players just want to play straight away, they forget they are arriving into a new club and new city, so they have to adapt to their new players and at the moment Tottenham have got three strikers. Koulasevski had a great season last year. Last week he played very well, he scored a goal, he got one assist so it will be difficult for the Brazilian to just go and deliver. He has to be passionate.

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Antonio Conte said that Djed Spence was the club's signing, it wasn't his decision to sign him. Do you think that's right for the manager to say something like that, especially one who's so young?

I think Conte is an honest guy and an honest manager so he just said the truth. He doesn’t mean anything. The boy is still young so he's in the squad where he's going to learn because last season he was playing in the Championship. He has got players around him who will be good for him. Even if Conte said that about him, for me it’s nothing really special so I don’t want people to start arguing about how ‘Conte didn't want this player’ because that's not true.

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Chelsea are playing Tottenham on Sunday. What are your predictions for the match? It's obviously at stamford bridge. Who do you think could grab the headlines?

I think it will be very tight because Tottenham look good, they have good players and the only thing with Chelsea is that they don't have a real striker and that can be a problem for Chelsea as it becomes difficult for them to score goals or to create chances. That is why that game will be very tight, I would say Chelsea to win but i would go for a draw.

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I think Chelsea are being unestimated in terms of their squad qualities. What are your views on this?

I think they have a great squad but to have a good squad you need to have a good striker and a good finisher and you don’t have that right now. Even if they won 1-0 against Everton, they didn't look strong. They were strong at the back but at the front, they were not strong so now they are going to play against one club where it's the derby and Tottenham are stronger as it's going to be more difficult for Chelsea. So for me, they really need to buy a striker and find that striker otherwise they will be problems for the rest of the season.