Antonio Rudiger is gone. Andreas Christensen too. And there will be further departures from Chelsea in the weeks ahead as Thomas Tuchel undertakes a rebuild of his first-team squad in an attempt to close the gap to Man City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
It will not be a simple process; Tuchel has accepted that. Part of the reason why is Chelsea were forced to wait until the takeover by the Todd Boehly-led consortium was completed to make transfer market decisions. Another is, of course, the number of players whose futures are uncertain.
Losing two centre-backs in one window on a free transfer is the result of poor planning. Yet another could depart in Cesar Azpilicueta, who has a two-year contract offer on the table from Barcelona and may ask to leave Stamford Bridge after a decade of service.
