The takeover of Chelsea by American businessman Todd Boehly lifted the mood in West London and fans of the Blues looked forward to a new era.
And with six weeks to the start of the new campaign, the owner and his manager are ready to spend on replacements and reinforcements.
If Chelsea are to challenge at the top of the Premier League next term, then Thomas Tuchel needs to be smart in the transfer market and there is plenty of work going on in the background.
Boehly has already said he doesn’t want to see unhappy players at the club and the first targets are to find replacements for the departing stars at both ends of the pitch.
Up front
Chelsea and Inter Milan have finally come to an agreement which will take centre-forward Romelu Lukaku back to the San Siro, where he starred during the Nerazzurri’s 2021 Scudetto campaign.
His big money return to Stamford Bridge has been an unmitigated flop as the Belgian scored just eight league goals last season. Inter are happy to take their man back on a loan deal with a fee of €8-M with the player set to undergo a medical.
In terms of a replacement, Tuchel is an admirer of Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele and RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku, but the most exciting rumour circulating around London is that Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling could be the man to score the goals at the Bridge. The England star is in the final year of his contact with the Sky Blues and at the age of 27, he is coming into his prime.
Sterling is said to be considering his options and, having made 165 goal contributions in 320 games during his time at Liverpool and then Manchester City, he is a wanted man.
Chelsea are hopeful of signing the versatile striker for a fee of around £50-M, but I suspect they will have to pay significantly more to a league rival.
And they could face competition from Real Madrid. Los Blancos are still smarting after the shock decision of Kylian Mbappe to stay at Paris Saint-Germain and head coach Carlo Ancelotti may be tempted to make a move.
With Los Blancos stepping up their activity in recent weeks, time could be running out for the Blues if they want to do a deal with Manchester City and, with Arsenal in pursuit of Gabriel Jesus, the Sky Blues may be reluctant to sell.
But if Chelsea can land Sterling then the Premier League 2022 betting odds might well take a gentle shift in the direction of Stamford Bridge.
At the back
The departure of Anton Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen, seemingly on the way to Barcelona, has left a big two-man hole in the centre of Chelsea’s defence. And with wing-back Cesar Azpilicueta approaching his 33rd birthday, Tuchel may be seeking reinforcements on the right flank too.
French centre-back Jules Kounde has been a Blues target for 12 months and, a few weeks ago, it seemed like a deal to bring the centre-back from Sevilla to Chelsea was getting very close. But there hasn’t been much progress and Boehly will be keen to see it through to solve the problem on the right side of Chelsea’s backline.
On the left side of the centre-back pairing, Rudiger will be hard to replace and the club has already been linked with Juventus star Matthijs de Ligt and Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly. But reports in Italy suggest that the Bianconeri are keen to buy the Napoli man themselves and link him up with their Dutch master.
Manchester City’s Nathan Ake could be an option and Torino defender Gleison Bremer is another name linked. But the most interesting of all could be a swoop for Inter Milan’s Milan Skriniar, though the option of a swap with Lukaku seems to have disappeared.
On the right wing of Chelsea’s back four, Reece James is a shoo-in for a start but the young England international suffered from injury for much of last season and Tuchel will need cover as the experienced Azpilicueta may also be needed in the centre of defence from time to time.
The Blues have made an inquiry to bring in another experienced defender who can cover for James in the shape of Lens player Jonathan Clauss. He’s a cultured operator from the academy of Strasbourg and was included in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year in 2021 by the French Professional Footballers’ Association.
At 29 years of age, Clauss has improved year by year and has a good few years at the top level, and this year he was given his first four international caps by France manager Didier Deschamps.
So the targets are there, Boehly and Tuchel now need to start landing them.
With the new campaign fast approaching, the SBOTOP team will be watching all the transfer news and we’ll be back with the Premier League 2022 updates as they happen when Chelsea fans hope their club will be writing the headlines.
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