Paul Scholes has taken aim at Chelsea's summer business, arguing the Blues have swung from an excessive reliance on youth to signing veterans who may barely feature.
His verdict lands as Chelsea look to change course after a turbulent season that ended without European qualification.
Rather than keep raiding Europe and South America for young talent, the club have turned to players with Premier League experience. Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix are the clearest examples.
Alonso, who holds the role of sporting director rather than simply head coach, now wields greater influence over incomings and departures. When the club failed to sign Granit Xhaka, the Spaniard drove the moves for Danny Welbeck and Jordan Henderson, aiming to inject leadership into a dressing room that has lacked it since Thiago Silva left.
According to the Metro, Scholes doubts the pair will make an impact unless they play regularly. Speaking on "The Overlap", he said: "I feel like Chelsea have gone from one extreme to another. You've got a group of players aged 21, and what was needed was to add elements aged 28 or 29, but you've signed players approaching 37 or 38 years of age."
He added: "I understand the Xhaka deal, he's still a good player and he was excellent at the World Cup. As for Welbeck and Henderson, their biggest impact will be in training, because they won't play all the time, especially Henderson. And if Chelsea have money (to waste) in this way, then that's their business."
Carragher weighs in
Jamie Carragher backed him up. His old Liverpool teammate Henderson, now 36, left him particularly baffled, a player who since departing Anfield has drifted through short spells with Al-Ittifaq of Saudi Arabia, Ajax and Brentford.
Lacroix's move from Crystal Palace made sense to Carragher, given Chelsea's glut of young defenders. But he questioned how far Henderson and Welbeck can fix the team's on-pitch problems, from the flood of red cards to the throwing away of leads.
Chelsea racked up a club record eight red cards last season, and squandered their lead in several matches.
Carragher added: "They will add something off the pitch, but Chelsea need experience on the pitch. They might feature in the last 10 or 15 minutes to help preserve results, but having a player aged 28 or 29, like Youri Tielemans, would have been more beneficial."
To Carragher, the Palace defender's deal carries more value than Henderson's, because Chelsea need experience inside matches, not just inside the dressing room.