Chelsea have been advised to target the free agent market this summer as the club looks to recover from a deeply disappointing Premier League campaign.
Former Blues midfielder Joe Cole has called on the club to sign John Stones and Robert Lewandowski as part of Xabi Alonso’s overhaul at Stamford Bridge.
Cole, who made more than 250 appearances across seven years in west London, believes Chelsea must add experience to support their younger players going forward.
Alonso was appointed as Chelsea’s new permanent manager earlier this month, following confirmation that interim head coach Calum McFarlane would step down at the end of the season.
The club had been searching for a long-term successor to Liam Rosenior before deciding that Alonso was the right man to take the job.
Chelsea finished 10th in the Premier League this season and will have no European football to look forward to next term, making the summer rebuild all the more significant.
Stones and Lewandowski are both expected to leave Manchester City and Barcelona respectively when their contracts expire at the end of June.
Cole told football.london via Specsavers that the club must resist the urge to make wholesale changes, insisting the current young players still have plenty to offer.
“One thing we’re sure we don’t want is wholesale changes because these young players that you had belief in three years ago: they’re still the same players,” Cole said.
He stressed that what the squad requires is experienced figures capable of passing on knowledge and guiding younger teammates through difficult moments during matches.
“You bring in your John Stones and Robert Lewandowski and players on a free transfer who don’t need to play every minute of every game, but they understand winning, they understand culture and they can still help out on the pitch and do bits,” Cole added.
Cole was emphatic that wisdom passed through a dressing room from within is what separates good clubs from great ones over time.
“All the great teams are coached from within their own dressing room and its knowledge and wisdom passed down over the years,” he said.
He warned that without making these kinds of intelligent additions, Chelsea risk continuing to hit the same ceiling whenever they reach elite level competition.
“When you get to elite level, you need experience, you need wisdom and you need quality,” Cole said, underlining his belief in a measured but purposeful approach to recruitment.
Chelsea ended their 2025/26 season with a 2-1 defeat at Sunderland, a result that extinguished any remaining hope of securing European football through the back door.
