Chelsea have endured a disappointing campaign under Mauricio Pochettino so far and Joe Cole believes they need to bolster their squad with more experience this summer.
Joe Cole has urged Chelsea to add more experienced players to their squad and named Real Madrid duo Toni Kroos and Luka Modric as two players that they might be able to bring in.
The Blues have introduced a new transfer policy since Todd Boehly arrived in May 2022, with the American spending over £1billion to strengthen their squad and signing younger players. In fact, over the past two years, Chelsea have signed just two players - Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling - over the age of 26.
This has drastically reduced the average age within the squad, with Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu amongst those signed last summer who were 21 or under. However, that strategy is yet to pay off. Despite reaching the final of the Carabao Cup and the semi-final of the FA Cup, the Blues currently sit 11th in the Premier League, a mammoth 17 points behind fourth-place Aston Villa.
It has been a difficult campaign for the west London club and former midfielder Cole has urged boss Mauricio Pochettino to sign more experience, with legendary Real duo Modric and Kroos the two mentioned. "I'd be looking to maybe bring in some experienced players to set the tone," Cole told.
"Does Luka Modric want to come and play in the Premier League for one more year? He's still doing bits at Real Madrid. How much has he helped [Eduardo] Camavinga, [Aurelien] Tchouameni, [Federico] Valverde? He would have had such an influence on them as players."
" Toni Kroos is 34 but does he want to test himself at his age, coming over here and helping out this young squad."
Modric and Kroos both signed one-year contract extensions last summer and have helped nurture some of the best young players in world football, including England sensation Jude Bellingham.
Since joining Real from Tottenham in 2012, Modric, 38, has made 521 appearances, winning La Liga three times and the Champions League on five occasions. The Croatia international also won the Ballon d'Or in 2018 following a string of world class performances at the World Cup in Russia.
Meanwhile, Kroos, 34, moved to Real from Bayern Munich in 2014 after winning the World Cup with Germany. The experienced midfielder has made 455 appearances during his time in Madrid so far and is approaching his 10-year anniversary at the club.
As for Chelsea, they booked their place in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday following a dramatic 4-2 win over 10-man Leicester at Stamford Bridge. Speaking after the match, Pochettino said: "I think no one can say that we didn't deserve, I think we fully deserve to be at Wembley.
"The objective is to go again and for the second time, first was the kind of cup where we were in the final and now we are again in the FA Cup, you know, in the semi-final going to Wembley twice at the moment "
"Hope that three times we can go. But I think this group of players that will be a big credit and also the staff because in a circumstance that we are from the beginning of the season, I think it is massive to get twice. You know the possibility to fight for a for a title."