Chelsea are undergoing one of the biggest transitions in their recent 117-year history meaning this transfer window and the decisions made could be key to determining the next chapter under new owner Todd Boehly and current manager Thomas Tuchel.
In all areas of the pitch, reinforcements are needed to revamp a Chelsea squad that fell some way short of title winners Man City and Liverpool in 2021/22. But signings aren't just needed to catch up with the Premier League top two going into 2022/23, key departures have meant that Boehly has a massive task on his hands to keep the standards high. Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have already moved on in the backline. No movement has happened just yet in the midfield but it is understood that if any of the current roster in that specific area were to leave this summer, it would most likely be one of Jorginho or Ruben Loftus-Cheek amid links to Juventus and Lazio respectively.
Up top, Hakim Ziyech seems AC Milan bound whilst Timo Werner could be on the verge of joining Paul Pogba in Turin with Chelsea currently negotiating for Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt in a potential swap deal with the German international going the other way. Cumulatively, that's a lot of outgoings. No wonder Boehly and Clearlake have sanctioned £200m plus more depending on cash generated by sales for Tuchel to revamp and readjust his squad in a way he believes will correct the wrongs of last season's collapse which unsurprisingly came in the dreaded month of December.
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"It will be a super tough race. Manchester United will be in the race and Tottenham will be in the race with Antonio Conte for sure. We want to stay in the race and Liverpool and Man City do everything to make their squads bigger and they set the standard so high. This is the challenge in which we compete," Tuchel said looking ahead to next season after the final Watford win. "We have at the moment a huge disadvantage - that's not decisive yet. There is no need to make excuses now, it is just the situation we are in and we have to be as quick as possible. Right now, of course, it is unsatisfying because our hands are tied and we cannot act as we want.
"We have clear ideas for the profiles and characteristic of these players. It is not like you put a name on the list and then you get the player. You have to convince the player, you have to speak to other clubs and convince yourself this is the player, so there is normally a lot of work and it will be the same to be competitive next season, while, like everybody else, tries to close the gap to us, while the two top teams are what they are. A benchmark of consistency. This is the situation and from there we do our very best to be competitive because this is what we want to be."
Certain decisions made by targets will determine just how good Chelsea's transfer window has been with all the pressure now on the west Londoners with Arsenal and Tottenham projected to have good windows alongside the rest of their Premier League rivals. Liverpool have signed Darwin Nunez, Man City have completed two signings so far in the form of Kalvin Phillips and Erling Haaland. Both of the top two have also added exciting youth prospects to their ranks. Meanwhile, Arsenal have completed a plethora of deals with Gabriel Jesus and Raphinha forecasted next. the same can be said for their North London rivals who could add Richarlison to their ranks for next season. Therefore the pressure is on Chelsea and football.london brings you what their worst-case scenario could look like in the transfer window.
On a positive note to start off with, the likes of Jonathan Clauss, De Ligt and Raheem Sterling all have high chances of donning the blue shirt next season with the latest updates on all three signalling that moves are highly possible if negotiations go according to plan. Unfortunately, Chelsea have not been able to break West Ham's resistance in trying to prise Declan Rice away from the London Stadium. The Hammers' £150million valuation has meant that this is a no-go situation to date. However, it is predicted that Boehly will try another offensive on the east Londoners in the coming weeks. The Blues do have a certain Armando Broja and Ross Barkley in their armoury - two players that are of interest to David Moyes' side.
Whether or not they can be used in negotiations for West Ham's number 41 remains to be seen but after Mark Noble's retirement at the end of the campaign that just passed by, the expectation is that Rice will step up to his mantle for this forthcoming season meaning the Three Lions international could say not to a Chelsea return on this occasion as he looks to keep his relationship sweet with the supporters who have shown him great loyalty since taking him in from his youthful days.
Building a good rapport with the Irons by selling Broja and Barkley could be the key to unlocking the Rice standoff in future transfer windows but this summer, as it currently stands, unless crazy money is paid, the 23-year-old will continue to run down his current deal ahead of a potential exit next time round.
Elsewhere, Barcelona could inflict double misery onto Chelsea if they and Xavi, in particular, were to jeopardise the long-term transfer plans that had been put into place before Roman Abramovich was sanctioned all those months ago. Ousmane Dembélé and Jules Kounde are two players wanted by Tuchel but the Barca manager himself has reportedly held talks with both to get one of them to re-sign a new contract at the Camp No and the other one to snub a Premier League move in favour of remaining put in La Liga.
Chelsea fans - What would be the worst-case scenario in your opinion regarding Chelsea's summer transfer window activity? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments section!
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