Chelsea are in desperate need of new midfielders and could return to the transfer market in January to start an overhaul of the position.
Having lost two defenders for free last summer in Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, and the prospect of Cesar Azpilicueta and Trevoh Chalobah also leaving very prominent, the backline was the first port of call for Todd Boehly. As the window went on and the season started, Thomas Tuchel's need for a new midfielder was also evident though.
Since Nemanja Matic left in 2017 there hasn't been an obvious physical presence in midfield which has seen a drop off in league form, consistency and performance. Despite bringing in Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic since 2017, the centre of the pitch has been largely neglected.
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Graham Potter is now the fourth manager trying to plug the gap left by Matic and has already turned to Ruben Loftus-Cheek to cover in that position despite the deep, controlling role not being one of his main strengths.
Chelsea's need for reinforcements led to a hopeful but unsuccessful pursuit of Frenkie de Jong over the summer, with Ibrahim Sangare and Edson Alvarez both seen as late options. They did end up with Denis Zakaria on a season-long loan but he is yet to appear for the club.
Having used Saul Niguez as a loan signing last season, Chelsea didn't learn their lessons as N'Golo Kante's injury for four months - on top of the two months he has missed since last playing - has left them short once more. Heading into January, and looking ahead to next summer when Jorginho and Kante and both out of contract, there is plenty of work to be done.
The club will look to sign Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, whilst Alvarez is a possible mid-season target too. There are other names on the list, and according to Gazzetta in Italy, Adrien Rabiot could be one of them. The France international was close to joining Manchester United over the summer and a deal worth £15m was agreed but the Red Devils pulled out due to 'obscene' salary demands, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Rabiot is out of contract next summer but could potentially be involved in a deal sooner if Chelsea were to cancel the loan of Zakaria early. The Swiss international was never able to hit the same form as his Borussia Monchengladbach days after moving to Italy and hoped a move to SW6 would spark his career.
That doesn't seem to be the case though and Rabiot could be an option should Chelsea wish to pursue it. Given United's own concerns about Rabiot though, perhaps it would be better to move on and focus on other targets rather than short-term options that come up, Chelsea have had too many of them already.
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