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Chelsea's journey under Thomas Tuchel has been remarkable and the German coach has transformed the team in a matter of about four months. When Tuchel took over as Chelsea manager, replacing Frank Lampard, the Stamford Bridge outfit was down in the dumps.
With a spot in the top four looking like a distant dream and an exit from Europe looking inevitable, Chelsea embarked on a resurgent spell. It culminated in an emphatic Champions League triumph. They also made it to the final of the FA Cup and their young brigade has gone from strength to strength under the new manager.
Fans' interest now lies in the club's summer transfer activity. Chelsea have a great base to build on as they have a young core and a handful of experienced campaigners who add a lot of quality to the side.
This will be Thomas Tuchel's first transfer window as manager of Chelsea and he will undoubtedly be backed by the board after he exceeded expectations in the 2020-21 season. The club was able to bring in a lot of talented young players last summer and they have an opportunity to address the remaining problems over the next few months.
Without further ado, let's take a look at four things Chelsea ought to do in the summer transfer window.
#4 Chelsea board should back Thomas Tuchel's decisions on contracts and outgoing players
Thomas Tuchel is a great footballing coach and he has proven his credentials at multiple clubs. He has improved players at every club he has managed thus far and has already brought the best out of a lot of Chelsea's youngsters.
According to The Telegraph, Tuchel has identified three areas to strengthen. He wants a defender who can operate on the right side, a midfielder and a new striker. Tuchel has decided the futures of several stars.
Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham are likely to be two most high-profile players who might be offloaded this summer. Tomori is expected to join AC Milan where he spent the second half of the season on loan.
Antonio Rudiger has proven to be a formidable presence at centre-back. His contract expires in 2022 and Tuchel will want it renewed as Rudiger has been a warrior under the German coach.
Andreas Christensen is another important member of the Chelsea squad whose contract expires in 2022. Chelsea will need to back Tuchel not only by signing new players but by also renewing the contracts of these individuals.
#3 Chelsea need to sell the deadweight
Chelsea have a wonderful opportunity to cut their squad down to the perfect size. They have a lot of depth in a variety of positions with two or more players vying for a spot in each of them. This goes for attacking midfield, right wing-back, left wing-back and the other forward roles.
The likes of Ross Barkley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Fikayo Tomori, Mitchy Batshuayi, Ethan Ampadu and Conor Gallagher have returned from their loan spells. It is the right time to sent some of them packing for good.
Ross Barkley, who was on loan at Aston Villa, impressed initially in the 2020-21 season but his form faded drastically from then on. He was also out for around two months after suffering a hamstring injury in November 2020. He needs to be sold.
Loftus-Cheek could be a decent backup to Tuchel's current crop of midfielders and he has already heaped praise on the 25-year-old. He turned in quite a few encouraging performances for the Cottagers but if Chelsea receive a good bid, it'd be advisable not to turn it down.
Bakayoko, Tomori, Batshuayi and Ampadu are all players whose futures seem to lie away from Chelsea. Chelsea could furnish valuable funds through their sales and would do well to offload all that deadwood.
#2 Buy a backup goalkeeper
It has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Kepa Arrizabalaga is not a great deputy for Edouard Mendy. While Kepa's form in the closing stages of last season was rather encouraging, the Blues will still be vulnerable if Mendy gets injured.
Willy Caballero will be released upon the expiry of his contract on June 30. So it's necessary for Chelsea to sign a new goalkeeper. With Donnarumma all set to sign for Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea will need to trawl the market to see if there are reliable options to invest in.
#1 Go all out for Erling Haaland
Chelsea have been extremely formidable at the back under Tuchel. However, they have not really been prolific in front of goal. Defensive midfielder Jorginho was their top scorer in the Premier League with seven goals, all of which came from the spot.
Timo Werner has made a habit out of missing gilt-edged chances. None of the Chelsea forwards were in great goalscoring form in the 2020-21 season. Tuchel has already emphasized the need to score more goals. Talking to SkySports in April, Tuchel said:
"We need more goals and we rely on anybody and we want to trust anybody who is capable of scoring. But you just need to read the numbers, our top scorers have six goals. This is clearly not enough for the demands, the expectations and the targets Chelsea football club has and what we demand.
"I say this without any anger and without being rude to any of the offensive guys, I think they're very well aware of it. But when we put the goalkeeper in goal for Chelsea we expect him to have a clean sheet.
"When we let the defenders play, we expect them to produce clean sheets and the best possible outcome straight away. And this is what we expect from the midfielders, we expect passing percentage, we expect the rhythm of the game. And when we put strikers in we expect goals and assists and nothing else."
The message is clear. Chelsea desperately need to sign a striker. They have been linked with both Erling Haaland and Harry Kane. Both signings will cost the Blues an arm and a leg but they absolutely have to go get a prolific striker signed up.
Given where the club is at now and going by the long-term nature of the project, Haaland would be the perfect signing for Chelsea. If Chelsea can sell their deadwood and Abramovich can pump more money in, they should be able to get him signed up. With Haaland leading this Chelsea side, there might just be no stopping them.
