Not only can Chelsea qualify for the Champions League knockout stages this evening (Tuesday, November 25th) they can also take a big step towards luring some of their biggest transfer targets to the club as well.
Graham Potter has taken seven points from his three group stage matches so far and has turned around the fortunes in Europe after the Blues took just one point from their opening two matches. Back-to-back wins against AC Milan have put Chelsea in a great position to qualify.
The former Brighton manager took charge of his first-ever Champions League game just six weeks ago against RB Salzburg at Stamford Bridge, and the 1-1 draw left Chelsea in a dangerous state.
READ MORE : Predicted Chelsea team vs FC Salzburg – Kovacic decision made, Potter shakes up the attack
Qualification looked a tough ask with home and away matches against the Italian champions to come, and the Blues were in danger of falling behind their top-four rivals too. Now, Potter is unbeaten in his first eight matches and has turned things around quickly.
Ahead of the trip to Austria, Chelsea will still be looking to the future with less than four weeks until the winter World Cup break. After that, the January transfer window will open, and Chelsea have plenty of business to do. As well as trying to sort out contract decisions regarding Jorginho and N'Golo Kante, Chelsea are also interested in pushing a deal for RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku through early.
Todd Boehly has acted quickly to reach a pre-agreement with the German club for the Frenchman and could pay more than his £52.8m release clause in order to get it across the line in January. That may become easier if Champions League stipulations work Chelsea's way too.
According to transfer specialist Rob Pratley, Chelsea are hopeful of persuading Marco Rose's side to sell Nkunku in the winter should Leipzig fail to qualify from their group and enter the Europa League.
Currently, Leipzig are second with six points but face Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk in their final two group games. They had had a poor start to the season but have recovered since Rose's appointment and now have fate in their own hands, but it will go down to the final matchday if they fail to beat the European champions and Celtic fail to win.
This creates an anxious wait, meanwhile, Chelsea could top their group this evening should they win and AC Milan beat Dinamo Zagreb. This would leave them in a position to exploit a potential fire sale at Leipzig but also go in earlier than their competition for Nkunku to get the deal done early.
The ambitious quick-thinking on Chelsea's part may also be impacted by Christopher Vivell's future. football.london understands that he will be joining Chelsea as a technical director. As a director at Leipzig, who have helped to develop Nkunku, if he is appointed quickly, then he could be in a position to aid Boehly's transfer plans.
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