This summer is a step into the unknown for Chelsea. For the first time in 19 years, the club is under new ownership and changes are inevitable. It's simply a case of when rather than if they will be made by Todd Boehly, who fronted the consortium that bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.
One decision that has already been made is that Thomas Tuchel will be given greater licence than previous head coaches to oversee Chelsea's work in the transfer market – and there is a lot to do with several question marks over key members of the first-team squad.
Signings are needed, potentially in every position. The departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have made defence a priority but the futures of midfielders N'Golo Kante and Jorginho need to be clarified given the duo have just 12 months remaining on their contracts.
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Then there is Tuchel's attack, which has become something of a problem area. Romelu Lukaku has made it clear he would like to leave Chelsea this summer and return to Inter Milan on loan, something far from easy to swallow given the Blues spent a club-record £97.5million on the Belgian striker last summer.
Timo Werner is understood to want more regular game time next season. Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic too. Tuchel is unable to offer such assurances, especially given Chelsea have held talks with Ousmane Dembele's representatives over a move to Stamford Bridge when his Barcelona contract expires at the end of this month.
Chelsea's summer transfer plans were put on pause for three months after Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government and EU. It wasn't until the takeover was completed less than two weeks ago that the Blues could operate normally once more – and Tuchel has accepted that put the club at a disadvantage ahead of the summer window.
Speaking in-depth about what Chelsea needed to do this summer after the final Premier League game of the 2021/22 campaign, a 2-1 win over Watford last month, the German explained: "When we have the chance to act and make up the disadvantage [in the transfer market] in terms of timing, We will do. The rebuild is big. We have to be fast and smart.
"It grows every day. The two top teams [Man City and Liverpool] improve their teams and have teams that are very clear on which they build. It's a rebuild necessary for us and that makes it more challenging, of course.
"I cannot go on holiday, no. There are too many things to clarify and give an opinion. Of course, nowadays, you can have meetings on Zoom, so it's not necessary to do everything in person. The first days I will be here anyway and around because my children are in school, so it will start with a bit of a delay to the holidays.
"But even in holidays, it's also normal in a situation like ours that you stay in contact. And you have the possibility with Zoom and Facetime to have calls, share opinions, and move forward because we need to."
Tuchel has constantly spoken about closing the gap to Man City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League – and that will remain a difficult prospect with the former signing Erling Haaland this summer and the latter hoping to complete a deal for Darwin Nunez.
Yet Tuchel also warned that the clubs in competition with Chelsea for a place in the top four will strengthen their squads too this summer. "It will be a super tough race [in the Premier League]," the German said. "Manchester United will be in the race and Tottenham will be in the race with Antonio Conte for sure.
"We want to stay in the race and Liverpool and Man City do everything to make their squads bigger and they set the standard so high. This is the challenge in which we compete.
"We have at the moment a huge disadvantage [because of the sanctions] - but that's not decisive yet. There is no need to make excuses now, it is just the situation we are in and we have to be as quick as possible. Right now, of course, it is unsatisfying because our hands are tied and we cannot act as we want.
"We have clear ideas for the profiles and characteristics of these players. But it's not like we put a name on the list, and then we get the player. We have to convince the player, speak to their clubs, and convince ourselves this is the player [we need].
"So there is normally a lot of work, and it will be the same to be competitive next season while everyone else tries to close the gap to us. This is the situation and from there we do our very best to be competitive because this is what we want to be."
