Chelsea transfer news: Why Tuchel and Chelsea have a busy summer ahead of them

Influx of new signings? 

Chelsea will greet this summer’s transfer window with something of a bloody nose. Before Thomas Tuchel and his backroom staff can sit down and finalise deals with their newly-instated transfer budget from the club’s new owners, they’ll first have to find an immediate replacement for one of last season’s biggest stars. A few weeks after the conclusion to the 2021/22 season, Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger confirmed his decision to leave the club when his contract came to an end. Shortly after that, Real Madrid announced that they would be signing the Germany international. However, the centre back is unlikely to be the only player to leave Stamford Bridge this summer. 

Indeed, Rüdiger was just one of five first team players whose contract was up this summer, with Danny Drinkwater, Charly Musonda, Jake Clare-Salter and potentially even Andreas Christensen all expected to depart in the coming weeks. However, despite reports that Barcelona are interested in the latter, Christensen may yet stay on with a new contract. Yet Chelsea’s first team problems don’t start and end with contracts that are expiring in the coming months. 

No less than four of Chelsea’s most-used XI from last season have contracts which expire next summer – and another player has already left

Thomas Tuchel and his backroom staff already have a lot of work to do this summer pic.twitter.com/JoWvATfdWv

— Transfermarkt.co.uk (@TMuk_news) June 10, 2022

Expiring contracts and want-away stars – Chelsea have a busy summer ahead

When we take a look at Chelsea’s most-used starting XI from all competitions last season, we can see some immediate issues for Tuchel and his backroom staff. Not only have they already lost Rüdiger, but no less than four other players in the team have contracts that are set to expire at the end of this season – and that’s without even including Christensen in the starting XI.

What’s perhaps even more worrying for Chelsea is that the players in question have already begun getting linked to some of Europe’s biggest clubs. For example, Marcos Alonso remains a reported target for Barca, while Jorginho continues to be linked with a return to Italy where Juventus are apparently keen on making a move for the player. And let’s not forget the fact that Romelu Lukaku’s horrid first season back in London has seen him be strongly linked with a return to Inter Milan. 

Unless Chelsea can sign up a number of their key players to new contracts and convince them to stay put next summer, Tuchel may be looking at the daunting task of replacing half of the starting XI he relied so much upon in the previous season. And even if the London club can do that, they still have a number of holes in this current team that need to be filled in the coming months. 

Left wing, centre back and in attack – Chelsea have gaps across their team

Indeed, when we take a look at Chelsea’s squad depth ahead of the new season – based on contract lengths and players that are set to leave the club – we can quickly see where Tuchel needs to prioritise his transfer budget in this summer’s transfer window. And it may end up costing a lot of money. For example, while Chelsea may be well stocked between the posts and at left-back, the departure of Rüdiger means the club only have four first team central defenders. And that could be shortened even further if Christensen leaves this summer. Similarly, the club only has two traditional right-backs and one of them, César Azpilicueta, finds himself filling in at centre back more often than not. 

Fortunately for Tuchel, his team remains well stocked in the midfield positions and on the right wing, but when it comes to players that consistently play on the left flank, the German manager can only call upon Kennedy as a genuine left-footed winger. Similarly, while Timo Werner, Lukaku and Armando Broja can play as No.9s, Kai Havertz remains the only proven No.10 in the squad, assuming Mason Mount will continue to play a little further back at centre mid.

This, undoubtedly, goes some way to explaining why Chelsea have been linked with a number of players in the aforementioned positions in recent months. Sevilla defender Joules Koundé would make for a decent Rüdiger replacement, as would RB Leipzig young talent Josko Gvardiol. Similarly, the club’s reported interest in Barcelona full-back Sergiño Dest and Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling would go some way to plugging the gaps in Chelsea’s team ahead of the new season. 

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