Chelsea won't have the chance to face one of their main transfer targets before attempting to sign them, and attentions will be elsewhere ahead of the January transfer window.
The Blues promise to be extremely busy after Christmas with appointments in the recruitment and senior footballing structure coming this week. Graham Potter will be backed heavily by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital as a squad overhaul continues into next year.
Boehly spent £250million on new players for Thomas Tuchel over the summer but more work is needed to transform Chelsea into long-term title contenders.
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One position that Chelsea are most desperate to address is in midfield. Both N'Golo Kante and Jorginho could yet leave for free with their contracts running out next year. That would leave Mateo Kovacic as the most senior midfielder in the squad and he has had injury issues of his own.
In the list of targets for this position are Declan Rice and Edson Alvarez, whilst Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham is also expected to be a serious option for the Blues as well. The 19-year-old will be firmly in the shop window during November and December as he takes to the field with England at the World Cup and may well be attracting additional suitors.
Bellingham has just come off the back of facing Manchester City in the Champions League, but interest in the former-Birmingham City man extends to Real Madrid and Liverpool too with all of Europe's top clubs circling.
Speaking after the 0-0 draw against Pep Guardiola's men, Bellingham addressed the rumours, saying: "In all honesty I’m not thinking about anything like that [the transfer rumours]. You [the media] will be angry with me as you won’t get a headline, but I’m just focused on the next games with Borussia Dortmund."
Bellingham was pursued by both Chelsea and Liverpool over this summer and can still make the Champions League knockout stages with Dortmund, but the next stages don't take place until February, by which stage the transfer window will be closed and any chance Chelsea had of speaking to the midfielder at a potential tie ahead of an early move will be gone.
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