Mauricio Pochettino begins his role as Chelsea head coach at the weekend as pre-season gets underway.
The Argentine takes over Chelsea after what was a dismal 2022/23 season and has been tasked with trying to turn the club's on-pitch fortunes around. To do that, the ongoing transfer window will prove significant with the club looking to offload a host of players – on top of the five that have departed already.
N'Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mateo Kovacic, Edouard Mendy and Kai Havertz have all left in recent days, with Chelsea accumulating nearly £150 million for their departures. The club is not done there yet, though, and Pochettino will face a number of talks with multiple players when they do report to pre-season training soon.
One of them being Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spaniard was the first-choice goalkeeper for Chelsea for the majority of last season but still failed to convince many that he should be there for the long run. football.london understands Chelsea would consider selling Kepa should they receive an appropriate offer for the former Athletic Bilbao shot-stopper.
Trevoh Chalobah is another man set for talks over his future with Pochettino. As reported earlier in the month, Inter Milan are keen to sign the 23-year-old defender on an initial loan with an obligation to buy. However, Chelsea want a buy-back clause – something that is proving to be a stumbling block in negotiations.
The future of Marc Cucurella remains uncertain, too, and with the emergence of Lewis Hall, it is unclear what sort of role the former will have in the squad next season. Pochettino will need to speak to both left-backs about their roles at the club, with Hall potentially one to be made available for a loan deal.
READ MORE: Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All of the latest updates coming out of Stamford Bridge
Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta could leave Stamford Bridge this summer. Chelsea are open to offers for the Spaniard, who is in the final 12 months of his contract in west London, and there is understood to be interest from Inter.
There is a growing expectation that Conor Gallagher could leave Chelsea on a permanent basis this summer. The England international didn't really have a defined role in the squad last season and with interest from several Premier League sides, including Tottenham, the Blues expect there to be bids for his signature.
As reported by football.london earlier in the year, Chelsea are likely to consider sending Carney Chukwuemeka out on loan as the English midfielder looks for further opportunities. The 19-year-old was only allowed to show glimpses of what he could do in the first-team last season but whether or not Chelsea loan him out very much depends on what happens elsewhere in the transfer market.
Chelsea may well look to loan out David Datro Fofana. Since the 20-year-old striker signed for the Blues in the January transfer window, he was only used in the first-team four times. And with the introduction of Christopher Nkunku, and with Nicolas Jackson soon to follow, the Ivorian could fall even further down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.
Finally, Omari Hutchinson, who appeared for the senior side at times last season, could look for a loan away from the club. The Jamaican is very highly-rated at Chelsea so the Blues would not look for a permanent move but a temporary deal could really benefit both parties.
