Having lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen for free over the summer, Chelsea know the risks and pitfalls of contracts running down. As January commences, the time for pursuing free agents arrives and brings with it the chance to secure players that may well have been unattainable previously.
Six months out from the expiry of June 2023 deals there are a host of top end players that can now be hit up over the prospect of moving on in the summer for nothing. A 'selling' club's worst nightmare and a 'buying' club's favourite. Rudiger and Christensen could have fetched around £100million between them in market value had they been sold.
Chelsea are not only keen to explore all avenues of possibility given their need for wholesale squad changes but they may need to save some of their funds and be smart with spending having already splashed over £250million since the summer on top of an expected £50million for Christopher Nkunku and £106m for Enzo Fernandez, should he join.
