Sir Alex Ferguson would struggle to win trophies at Chelsea, claims Joe Cole

Graham Potter must be given time to implement his ideas at Chelsea because the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson would struggle to compete with Manchester City.

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That’s the view of former Blues midfielder Joe Cole, who says it could be years before the club are competing for the league title again.

Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel in early September, with Chelsea opting to sack the German after a difficult start to the campaign.

Despite the club’s £300m outlay in the summer, the squad still requires surgery in certain areas and Todd Boehly is expected to hand Potter significant funds to invest in January and next summer.

Potter earned his first win as Chelsea boss on Saturday thanks to Conor Gallagher’s late winner against Crystal Palace.

But Cole says the former Brighton boss needs to be given time to introduce his ideas, as he’s a departure from the way Tuchel wanted to play.

‘When you come to Chelsea, you have to win games and trophies,’ Cole told the Sun.

‘The club has been built on that in the last 20 years. The fans are used to big games and going to cup finals, so Potter can’t just disregard that. It will always be in the background.

‘But with so much newness around the club, they seem to have gone away from that immediate success plan that Chelsea are normally associated with.

‘This appointment says to me that Chelsea are looking long-term, and it is an intelligent move because the likes of Manchester City are so far ahead.

‘You could employ Sir Alex and Brian Clough, all the all-time greats of management together, and they still wouldn’t make an immediate impact in chipping away at City, competing for trophies with them.

‘It will be a process to do that. it might take years over months, but I