Chelsea are finally making some concrete progress in the transfer market on many fronts. After a rather slow start to proceedings which opened on June 10, new owner Todd Boehly is starting to make moves in the market to use the £200million plus transfer budget promised to Thomas Tuchel.
Who the new faces could be remained a mystery for a certain length of time with it once being believed that one of Ousmane Dembele or Raphinha would be moving to Stamford Bridge, but Barcelona had other ideas.
Further back, Matthijs de Ligt and Jules Kounde have been two defensive names hot on the agenda of the Blues, but it is two other centre-halves who are currently closing in on joining Tuchel. One thing for certain though is that Raheem Sterling will become a Chelsea forward imminently, as football.london understands that a £45million plus £10million in add-ons deal was agreed between the two clubs with the 27-year-old having undergone parts of his medical in London already ahead of flying out to LA to join the club's pre-season tour.
READ MORE: Chelsea close to Kalidou Koulibaly signing amid Matthijs de Ligt and Jules Kounde decision
But who else could be joining Sterling? More advanced at the moment are the deals for Kalidou Koulibaly and Nathan Ake to replace Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger in defence. football.london understands that an agreement is close between Chelsea and Napoli in relation to a £34m deal that will see the Senegalese international sign a lucrative long-term contract in west London.
On top of this, football.london understands that the Blues are in advanced talks for the City defender with the fee and personal terms being discussed. City want over £50million and a replacement lined up before giving the green light for a deal. Then comes Serge Gnabry and despite early worries that the former Arsenal forward may reject Chelsea out of respect for the Gunners, Boehly is understood that be undeterred from as he looks to move on from the Raphinha and Dembele disappointments swiftly.
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has tweeted: "Chelsea have started to explore the situation of Serge Gnabry. Raphinha is heading to Barca, Chelsea wanted to understand how’s the state of the negotiation between Gnabry and FC Bayern over new contract. No approaches from Arsenal or Man City. Chelsea, interested."
Regardless of what is to unfold between now and September 1, Chelsea are making the type of moves that were forecast when the £4.25billion takeover went through a few months ago. It may have taken a little bit of time to ignite but the likes of Joe Cole and others have been proven correct in their patience surrounding the Blues and what has been going on off the pitch during the off-season.
These aforementioned big moves for attackers and defenders respectively will be no surprise to the former Chelsea midfielder, who admitted in a recent interview that he expected Boehly to get the 'business done' in the end.
"There are similarities to 2003 but that was so unique that experience, not just for Chelsea but for global football, the amount of rapid change," he told The Athletic.
"The ownership has come in and been very cautious, but business will get done. Everyone behind the scenes is working hard to get the team ready and in good condition. Chelsea will be ready to compete because that’s what they’ve done for the last 20 years, it’s exciting."
Chelsea fans- Nathan Ake, Serge Gnabry, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Raheem Sterling all signed with two more on top possible. Rate that transfer window out of 10? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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