Chelsea have benefitted from the World Cup in Qatar when it comes to possible transfers, and it could help them with both incomings and outgoings. Graham Potter and Todd Boehly will have been two keen watchers of the tournament during the group stages with 12 Blues players selected for their countries.
As well as staple first-team stars Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling, players with a less clear future at the club have also been demonstrating their skills over the past two weeks, with more players progressing into the knockout rounds and latter stages of the tournament.
As the ultimate shop window, the World Cup can be seen as the best chance to attract new suitors and find new destinations, and Chelsea may have found a perfect balance. One of their top attacking targets, Rafael Leao, has been impressive for Portugal and so has box office defender Josko Gvardiol.
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Although the tournament may increase their value for Chelsea in 2023 as well as being in the spotlight for other major sides to pick up on, the Blues also have their own set of players that are looking to move on next year.
Christian Pulisic is one of these, and he had a good tournament for USA despite losing out to the Netherlands in the last-16 match. The American was angling to leave over the summer but had to remain and hasn't had the desired game time at Stamford Bridge. In a similar camp is Hakim Ziyech.
The winger is preparing to play in the quarter finals against Portugal after helping to knock out Spain on penalties and has done himself no harm with a positive set of performances. Ziyech has only played 148 minutes in the league for Chelsea and hasn't been able to make a major impression on Potter, but there are clubs interested in signing him.
According to Italian publication CalcioMercato, AC Milan are still in the mix to bring him to San Siro - they were one of the sides pursuing a deal over the summer but no agreement was reached over the structure of a move. The Serie A champions face competition though, with Manchester United also said to be in the mix.
The 29-year-old has previous history with United boss Erik ten Hag and his form under the Dutch manager led to Chelsea's interest in him in the first place. The Moroccan scored 35 and assisted 53 in 100 matches at Ajax for Ten Hag and could be the player that the Red Devils turn to in order to fill the void left in attack by Cristiano Ronaldo's departure.
Pulisic was also linked with a summer move to Old Trafford, albeit on a loan over the summer, but after Ziyech once again displayed his mercurial talents, he appears to be the one closer to a move.
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