Chelsea already have a bulging squad but that does not mean they have plans to sign more players in the summer. The Blues are set to prioritise adding a goalkeeper, midfielder and forward for Mauricio Pochettino to work with as the club's hierarchy look to fix longstanding areas of transition.
The former PSG and Spurs boss is set to become Chelsea's new boss and will have no shortage of players to assess with the west London side listing 32 players in the first team. A figure that needs to be reduced as a priority after the latter half of the Blues' season has required accommodations to facilitate the number.
It will be a stiff task for sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, who will also be in discussion with Pochettino of the squad's requirements to catapult the team up the table in 2023/24.
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Given Chelsea's recent involvements in the transfer market, none of that has stopped the club being linked to a vast array of players. Sadio Mane is one of the latest players touted.
The former Liverpool star is a previous winner of the Premier League Golden Boot and has been involved with a high-intensity, pressing system with the Reds that could allow him to tick a number of boxes for Pochettino. A £35million deal less than 12 months ago saw Mane join Bayern Munich, but the German club are said to be willing to allow the Senegal international to leave.
In many ways, the forward's profile might have been ideal for Chelsea that season. There was no major desire for an out-and-out striker until a late U-turn saw Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrive at Stamford Bridge, as the west London side looked for a fluid forward line.
Whether the 31-year-old fits Chelsea's demands this term is less certain. The Blues hold an interest in Victor Osimhen, while Christopher Nkunku is set to arrive from RB Leipzig in the summer having racked up 19 goals and seven assists in 33 appearances compared to 12 goals and six assists in 37 from Mane.
Chelsea have already signed Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke, and have Raheem Sterling, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic at their disposal in addition to Armando Broja when he returns to fitness. In terms of squad building, it simply does not make sense to target Mane at this moment unless he has been identified by Pochettino and the Blues can use players as a makeweight in a deal.
At 31, Mane is unlikely to follow Chelsea's current path of signing young players to long term deals and outside of his on the pitch impact will represent another player the club will eventually lose money on. He would provide Premier League experience, but as Sterling's transfer has shown, the correct system needs to be in place to benefit from that first.
There will be dreams from many that Pochettino can form his own Harry Kane and Son Heung-min partnership to dispel Chelsea's goalscoring issues. Losing players from the squad will be required to be the first priority to ensure partnerships can be formed in the smaller group that Pochettino prefers.
A number of Chelsea's signings have not hit the ground running already, and Pochettino has shown persistence in the past, including with Son, who endured a difficult first year in the Premier League and considered his future. With the pending addition of Nkunku, a true striker would be more important in attempting to replicate that partnership too.
Until Chelsea begin to lose some players, it's almost impossible to countenance bringing more in that exist outside of their true priorities.
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