The impact of Roman Abramovich’s departure is still being felt at Chelsea as the new regime starts to pick up the pieces of what two decades of the Russian oligarch’s rule has left behind.
It was always predicted that the departure of Abramovich would leave a huge financial mess to clear up - instead, the main victim has been time as Todd Boehly’s consortium are having to pick up the pace after the club drifted through the final months of the season. It means their transfer policy is in danger of becoming confused, with the temptation to use shortcuts as the new hierarchy look to keep Chelsea competitive in the present as well as safeguarding their future.
With senior players such as Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Romelu Lukaku either out of the door or looking to be on the their way, there is a lot of work to be done just to stay still. But early whispers from the transfer market around the continent is that many of Chelsea’s early targets are young players for the future that might be expected to offer cover for those established stars.
Cut-price Rudiger replacement
RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvadiol is attracting interest from Chelsea, according to The Athletic, as a possible replacement for Rudiger. Despite the fact he is only 20 and has just broken into the international fold with Croatia, his speed of thought is impressive and the Chelsea hierarchy are considering allowing him to learn on the job due to his uncompromising nature.
At the same time, Chelsea are flirting with more senior names such as Matthijs de Ligt and Milan Skriniar as possible replacements. But with defence the cornerstone of Thomas Tuchel’s Champions League success, it seems a foolhardy area to be making any short cuts.
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In-house 'keeper hunt
Aside from bringing drama to Carabao Cup finals, it has been a pretty lean period for Kepa Arrizabalaga since rival goalkeeper Edouard Mendy arrived at Stamford Bridge. Unsurprisingly, he is eager to embrace a new challenge - and Chelsea may not even visit the transfer market at all when thinking of a replacement.
The strategy of stockpiling young talent and farming it out on loan gives Chelsea an even cheaper option than signing a promising youngster - using one they have got already. Nathan Baxter is 23 and has been on seven loan spells during his time at the club, most recently in the Championship with Hull and is finally being considered, again according to the Athletic, for first team contention at the club he joined as an academy player.
It would shunt Marcus Bettenelli down into third choice after he failed to build on an impressive start to his career.
Inter options emerge
With Romelu Lukaku adamant his future lies back at Inter Milan, a club currently struggling for cash, Chelsea may be forced to take a player back the other way in order to make the deal work. As well as some sort of swap deal involving Skriniar - who Inter want to keep separate from any Lukaku business - the names of Denzel Dumfries and Alessandro Bastoni have been mentioned.
Sky Italia are reporting that Inter would have to listen to any sensible offers for any of these players because they would not want to upset the London club ahead of Lukaku talks. But it does seem that Tuchel this summer is involved more in “convenience” shopping rather than the “money no object” of the Abramovich era.
