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Chelsea has endured a torrid campaign in Antonio Conte's second season in charge at the helm. The Italian guided the Blues to a Premier League title in his first season, however, in his second season Conte's Chelsea were a shadow of their title-winning season.
The departure of legendary defender John Terry, the sale of Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic to Atletico Madrid and Manchester United respectively rocked the Blues camp as the Blues failed to get proper replacements for players who were influential in their title-winning season.
The departure of Matic affected the performance of French midfield maestro Ngolo Kante at the heart of Chelsea's midfield. Kante failed to recapture the scintillating form he has had in his first two seasons where he won two Premier League titles with Leicester City and Chelsea.
The Blues season was further rocked with failure to qualify for UEFA Champions League as they finished 5th in the table, 5 points off fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and a whopping 30 points off champions Manchester City.
Here is a list of top players Chelsea could target in the summer to rejuvenate their squad ahead of the new season:
#5 Samuel Umtiti
Samuel Umtiti has developed into one of the European best centre-backs since joining Barcelona in 2016 from French side Olympique Lyon. The French defender has been solid at the back for Barcelona this season forming a formidable partnership alongside Spanish centre-half Gerard Pique.
Umtiti had assured performances at the heart of Blaugrana defence this season as the Spanish giants secured a domestic double. Barca conceded only 23 goals in 38 league matches; an impressive defensive record helping the team to keep 21 clean sheets in the process.
The French defender averaged 91.1% passing accuracy, averaging 5 defensive actions per game with 51% tackle success.
Despite the impressive performances this season, there is no breakthrough with his contract extension at Barcelona and after only two seasons, he has already been linked with moves away from Nou Camp.
The Blues can pounce on the French defender contract situation at Barcelona to prize the highly rated youngster away from the Blaugrana. Samuel Umtiti can be a significant upgrade on Garry Cahill who has a frustrating season with below-par performances for the Blues.
#4 Nabil Fekir
French sensation Nabil Fekir has made tremendous steps into becoming a superstar since graduating from Olympique Lyon academy in 2013 after leaving them at a tender age of 12 and later rejoining them again.
Fekir has immensely become an important part of Lyon squad and was even named the French giant's captain at the beginning of the just-concluded season. Nabil Fekir has not disappointed the Lyon hierarchy for being appointed the captain as he repaid by guiding a young Lyon side to a Champions League qualification.
Nabil crowned Lyon impressive performances with a mesmerizing display of his own as he notched an impressive 17 goals and 8 assists in 26 Ligue 1 appearances. He further had 5 goals and 1 assists in cup competitions as Lyon reached round of 16 of UEFA Europa league.
Fekir has been recently linked with a move to this season's Champions League finalists Liverpool and Chelsea could act first and hijack the deal to inject much more needed creativity and pace to the Blues attack as they struggled this campaign to score goals as they only scored 62 in the premier league.
#3 Florian Thauvin
Thauvin has revived his career since rejoining Olympique Marseille from Newcastle. The French winger joined the Magpies as a promising youngster in 2013 and failed to live up to the hype as he made only 13 Premier League appearances without finding the back of the net before being shipped back to the French side on loan during the second half of 2015-2016 season.
Thauvin put aside the nightmare career at Newcastle to resurrect his career back at his homeland. Marseille resigned Thauvin from Newcastle in 2017 and the youngster repaid with a mesmerizing performance in the 2017-2018 season.
The left-footed French wizard scored 22 goals and 11 assists in 35 Ligue 1 appearances creating further 68 chances as he made it to the Ligue 1 team of the season. His impressive performances did not go unnoticed as he was selected by Didier Deschamps in the French 23 man World Cup squad.
With the uncertainty of Eden Hazard's future at Chelsea and the diminishing form of Spanish winger Pedro, Thauvin could light up Stamford Bridge and the Premier League with his trickery, fine acceleration, jaw-dropping ball control and an eye for goal and could inject much-needed pace in Chelsea's attack.
#2 Marco Verratti
Verratti in one of the top five central midfielders in the world football. Having joined PSG in 2012 from Italian side Pescara, the Italian has fast rose to prominence to be one of the finest central midfielders in Europe.
Verratti immense performance at heart of the PSG's midfield has seen him being linked with moves away from the French capital to top European clubs with Barcelona touted to be the most likely destination for the little midfield magician.
Marco's creativity, hard work, vision, passing ability, vision and match control is exactly what Chelsea need in their midfield. With the departure of Nemanja Matic last summer, the Blues have lacked balance in their midfield as both Bakayoko and Drinkwater failed to properly complement Ngolo Kante.
Pricing him away from PSG could take a mammoth amount of money with the current inflated transfer market but Marco Verratti is tailor-made for Chelsea's midfield and could take the Blues to another level next season.
#1 Timo Werner
Timo Werner is one of the most talented strikers in Europe right now. His goal scoring instincts for both Germany and RB Leipzig has seen him being likened to German veteran Miroslav Klose.
The youngster has already scored 7 goals in 12 appearances for the German national team and at only 22 years, he is destined to break goalscoring records for his nation. Werner was part of the young German side that won the FIFA Confederations Cup last year as he also won the Golden boots. Timo Werner is probably going to be German's first choice striker
Werner has been an important part of RB Leipzig success in their record-breaking two seasons in the Bundesliga. The German striker had an impressive outing this season too as he netted 22 goals and setting up further 9 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions for RB Leipzig.
With Chelsea struggling to score since the departure of Diego Costa, Werner is an ideal striker that could lead Chelsea to European dominance. Despite his tender age, Werner has amassed 180 Bundesliga and has a wealth of experience to bring glory days back to Stamford Bridge.
