Owen Hargreaves believes Chelsea will make a huge mistake with £110,000-a-week star

A strong focus on young talent has seen the team finish in the bottom half of the Premier League and now risk missing out on Europe again.

On Saturday night, Chelsea showed why this young, inexperienced and much-criticized team needs some leadership, experience and skill.

Under-criticism Mauricio Pochettino saw his side draw 2-2 with fourth-placed Aston Villa – the same team they beat at Villa Park earlier this year.

The London club may have thought they should have won the game in the end, but they still trailed 2-0 at half-time, having lost 5-0 to Arsenal just days earlier.

This is a prime example of these players needing some much-needed experience with the team as they have been so inconsistent this season.

Thiago Silva is one of the players who holds the key, but he will leave when his contract expires in the summer.

Sources told HITC in February that the legendary defender would not be offered a new contract, and now the club has announced the news on Monday.

The bottom line is he is 39 and if he had been 10 years younger the Chelsea owners would have spent £1bn cloning him 11 times.

But the £110,000-a-week star is set to leave and Owen Hargreaves believes they have made a mistake as he feels “he can still play”, as he told Premier League Productions (29/04 /24 2:45 pm).

The former midfielder has urged Stamford Bridge players to extend his stay as the likes of Levi Colwell, Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashle are set to move from Learned a lot from him.

Thiago Silva leaves Chelsea

“Chelsea should let him stay,” Hargreaves said. “I think they should do that. The reason why they haven’t performed well this season is because they don’t have a leader. They don’t have experienced players.

“They need more, not less! Winning the Champions League and becoming one of the best centre-backs ever, mentoring all the talented young centre-backs they have. Colwell, Badyashler and Disasi.

“These players are priceless in the dressing room. Guys like Thiago Silva, he’s done that, he doesn’t give up in crucial moments. He can still play. When you go through difficulties, Having a mentor is so important – that person will be the best mentor ever.

Who will step up for Chelsea?

These are big questions to fill. You could see how immature these players are in Chelsea’s big win over Everton and that penalty incident.

Either they learn quickly, put the onus on individual players to take on the role, or the club dips its toe into the transfer market.