Chelsea need to have some major plans up their sleeves after what happened over the weekend in game week 3 of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
The Blues, who were major favourites to pick up three points at Elland Road over the weekend, failed to capitalise on the opportunity as Jesse Marsch's side hit Thomas Tuchel's outfit for three goals with no reply. Kai Havertz yet again failed to capitalise on the opportunity to fill in at the number 9 position with Raheem Sterling the only attacker to come out of the Leeds game with any praise.
As a result of this latest setback, Todd Boehly is set to ramp up his transfer plans not only in attack amid Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang talks but in defence and maybe even midfield still. Manager Tuchel, who didn't want to rely on the transfer window solely to fix the obvious issues in the team, looked closer to home at what can be done internally to improve fortunes on the pitch before external factors come into play.
READ MORE: Chelsea news: Man United join £40m transfer race as Todd Boehly finds Aubameyang alternative
"I don't know. We need to wait. The transfer period is still open. It gets later and later, and we need to focus on what we have and what we can do," the German said in his post-match press conference. "We can obviously play at a high level, but we lost track when there was no need. We were not forced to lose track. Everything was going well. We can win with this team in Leeds, everything was going well, and we had goalscoring opportunities. It went the other way, and I think it was more our fault than anyone else's credit."
With Barcelona currently playing hardball over the Aubameyang fee, Chelsea remain very confident of landing their £22million transfer target, football.london understands.
But with the Marcos Alonso element rejected by the Blaugrana, Chelsea have made it clear that they can walk away if necessary. This means plans need to be put into place for alternatives. Alvaro Morata has been linked to a shock return but The Mirror have reported that the current World Champions have joined the race for Brentford's Ivan Toney, who added his second of the new season over the weekend in the Bees 3-2 loss in the West London derby to Fulham.
Where would he fit in if he was to be signed? football.london takes a look at Chelsea's best plan C option if £350m transfer spend was sanctioned.
The 26-year-old would start ahead of an underperforming Kai Havertz. Hopefully, competition with Toney will help the German raise his level.
On the right, with both Hakim Ziyech, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic exit bound, a deal for Anthony Gordon is likely to go through before the September 1 deadline amid Everton's £50m asking price.
Raheem Sterling would start on the left as he's looked the most promising attacker out of all the available options in the first three games. As the days draw on, the chances of Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Chelsea appear slimmer, so Toney would sign instead of Ronaldo in this concept line-up.
Mason Mount, with all the midfield issues currently, could drop deeper and form a more balanced midfield three with Jorginho and Conor Gallagher to make up for the imbalance seen during the Leeds defeat.
Front three: Raheem Sterling, Anthony Gordon, Ivan Toney.
Substitute options: Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka.
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