Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have been busy since the Premier League stopped, using the break to take opportune meetings with agents in Qatar.
They knew the World Cup was a unique opportunity to meet the biggest and most important agents in football as they map out their future transfer business.
Paul Winstanley, who has just arrived at Chelsea from Brighton as the new head of recruitment, has joined Boehly and Eghbali in the Middle East.
The January transfer window could be key for Chelsea, who lost four of their last five games before the World Cup and are in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification.
Boehly and Egbhali took a 25-minute flight from Qatar to Abu Dhabi on Sunday to watch Chelsea play Aston Villa in a friendly, where they saw Armando Broja suffer a serious knee injury that will rule him out for the rest of the season.
The injury adds to a growing set of problems for Graham Potter. Chelsea hope to have Reece James and Wesley Fofana back from long spells out to face Bournemouth on December 27.
But it is unclear when Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Carney Chukwuemeka will be fit to return. Meanwhile, Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech meet in the third-place playoff at the World Cup on Saturday and are unlikely to face Bournemouth.
After losing Broja to injury, Chelsea could look to sign a striker in January. With RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku expected to join in a £52.7million summer deal, a short-term option will be preferred.
Atletico Madrid duo Joao Felix and Matheus Cunha are possible options but neither have a particularly similar skillset to Broja. Equally, a move for Borussia Dortmund striker Youssoufa Moukoko could be an option. But the Germany international is just 18 years old and it would be a big ask for him fire Chelsea to a top-four finish.
Cristiano Ronaldo is, of course, available but could be a disruptive influence and his powers are waning. Potter also needs to be wary that his squad already carries frustrated forwards Ziyech and Christian Pulisic, who are both desperate for more game time. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kai Havertz also want to retain pivotal roles.
It is a delicate balancing act to get right for the new Chelsea owners, who have armed themselves with a new-look transfer ‘think tank’
It is a delicate balancing act to get right for the new Chelsea owners, who have armed themselves with a new-look transfer ‘think tank’ to help them make better decisions.
Chelsea have hired Winstanley, while Laurence Stewart and Joe Shields will soon join from Monaco and Southampton respectively. That trio is also expected to be joined by former RB Leipzig technical director Christopher Vivell, but his appointment is yet to be confirmed.
They will be tasked with finding a striker but will not limit themselves in other positions, with a goalkeeper and central midfielder also on the agenda. Declan Rice is a major target to replace Kante and Jorginho, whose contracts both expire in June, but the West Ham midfielder will not be available until the summer.
Chelsea will be one of the busiest Premier League teams in January, a month in which they will both be planning for the long-term and trying to stick plasters on short-term problems.
