Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has dropped a telling transfer hint amid links to various forwards across Europe including Cristiano Ronaldo, Serge Gnabry, Rafael Leao and Robert Lewandowski.
The Blues finally kicked off the Todd Boehly era with the first men's signing of his reign as Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was signed before joining his new teammates on their pre-season tour in LA. football.london understands Chelsea will pay Man City an initial fee worth around £45million for Sterling. A further £10m will be due to the Premier League champions if a number of performance-related add-ons are met throughout the 27-year-old's time at Stamford Bridge.
Kalidou Koulibaly is expected to follow imminently after he boarded a plane on Thursday night to London to undertake his medical ahead of a £34million move being confirmed from Napoli. Two players secured and four more could follow. With the £200million-plus transfer budget that has been eaten into already that could equate to a total of six new faces, it is understood that two more defenders will be added to the roster.
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Currently, Presnel Kimpembe and Nathan Ake look like the two most likely to take up that mantle, with Todd Boehly understood to be in advanced discussions for both players.
One new midfielder could be signed, with Frenkie de Jong and Matheus Nunes linked with a move, and it is understood that one more forward could follow the 27-year-old's footsteps in making up the foundation for this new Blues frontline.
Star-studded names like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar have been linked already but on both deals, there are complications in the form of Erik ten Hag and Christophe Galtier, respectively. Robert Lewandowski however, could become a viable option if his Barcelona move falls through.
More realistically though, Serge Gnabry and Rafael Leao are two names that have some substance, with Tuchel open to not signing an out-and-out No. 9 as he is reportedly considering playing a more forward-front three in 2022/23 without a main focal point.
Regardless of who is to be signed in that position, it seems as though that move itself is more likely to happen nearer the September 1 deadline as Tuchel described this as not his 'main priority' right now, with focus seemingly on strenghtening the defence and midfield.
He told Sky Sports: "I would not rule it out [signing another striker] but right now it is not the priority. The priority right now is defence, it's not a secret. From there we need to see what's possible.
"We're competing against the two top teams but Tottenham did a very active and aggressive and early transfer period, they have maybe the strongest squad they ever had with one of the best coaches in the world, Man Utd are never shy of recruiting with a new coach and Arsenal had some big signings already, so we need to keep the level up to be competitive."
Chelsea fans- If you had to choose only one of Serge Gnabry or Rafael Leao, who would you pick and why? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
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