‘Micky Mouse trophy’ – Premier League icon tears into Chelsea and claims they ‘can’t pretend’ Todd Boehly era has been success after £2bn spend to win Conference League & Club World Cup

Richards, though, refused to concede the point. He reminded Carragher that other clubs, like Manchester United, have spent vast sums of money but still fallen short of success.

“Man United have been a winning machine, Man United in this period of the last six or seven years have spent an awful lot of money. Man United have finished 15th, 16th, 17th last year, no where near the Champions League, so if you go back and say 12th, progress…” he said.

“You mention a way of doing it, at this moment in time Man City and Arsenal and Liverpool have got a better squad than Chelsea. You talk about doing something, you’re insinuating that they’re doing something wrong. I think it’s very clever the way that Chelsea have done their business.

“I don’t think there squad is as good I’m talking about in the Premier League, I think they could buy more quality rather than quantity. But Joao Pedro has been a good signing, Gittens did well at Dortmund. And if you’re looking at what they’re trying to do, they’re trying to buy young players. Man City have waited too long before they can sell anyone, Chelsea are very good at selling on an asset, because they buy them young, they’ve still got value and look at the fees, Madueke, $66.6 million (£48.8m). I just think Chelsea are going about it in a different way, whether we agree with it or not.”

As the argument intensified, the two pundits clashed over Chelsea’s triumphs. Richards defended their victories in the Club World Cup, pointing out their win against PSG, while Carragher dismissed the Club World Cup as a “Micky Mouse trophy.”

Carragher asked, “Are Chelsea here to transfer players or to win trophies?”

Richards replied, “But they won two trophies last year.”

Carragher snapped back, “A Micky Mouse trophy.”

A stunned Richards asked, “The Club World Cup? They’ve just beaten PSG, European Champions.”

Carragher still remained adamant and said, “You’ve just said they haven’t got a squad better than the other teams in the Premier League. How is that possible when you’ve spent £2 billion on a squad?”