Chelsea Are Improving. What Do We Need to Take the Final Step?

A few more tweaks are needed to become serious title challengers

Chelsea, overall, are having a positive season so far. At time of writing, 3rd in the Premier League with 7 wins and only 2 defeats in 13 games, and 13 wins and 4 defeats in 21 games this season in all competitions.

Head coach Enzo Maresca has done a fantastic job so far, we have a clear tactical identity, belief and a talented squad who are doing well. We’re not far off where we want to be.

There’s not much to complain about right now, and we should all be happy with where we are and feel positive about the future.

However, as much as I have big confidence in us now to finish in the top 4 and win the Europa Conference League, it’s also become clear to me that to take us to the next level in terms of winning the Premier League title and competing for the Champions League trophy season on season, there’s still 2-3 areas of the squad which need addressing - both ins and outs

This is highly unlikely to be fully addressed in the January 2025 window, and is more likely to happen in the summer of 2025.

To be clear, this article is not only about what I want to happen, it's also about what’s likely to happen.

It’s already been reported that people like Ben Chilwell are likely to be leaving, and I would think some players on loan, like Trevoh Chalobah, Raheem Sterling, Kepa Arizzabalaga, David Datro Fofana and Armando Broja, will be sold. In terms of players in the squad, I suspect Carney Chukwuemaka (wrongly, in my view), and potentially Ceasare Casadei too. suspect at least one of Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiasgile - possibly both, to be sold too.

I suspect at least one, maybe two attackers could be sold. I think it could genuinely be any of Noni Madueke, Mikhaylo Mudryk or Christohper Nkunku, possibly two of them. In my view, we should be looking to get rid of Robert Sanchez and possibly Keirnan Dewsbury-Hall, but we’ll have to wait and see on those two.

In terms of incomings, I think for almost certain, the likes of Estevao Willian, Andrey Santos, Mike Penders, and potentially Aaron Anselmino and Lesley Ugochukwu, will come into the squad - all already signed. Kendry Paez could come in too, but will probably go on loan to Strasbourg next season..

This brings us to new signings. I think we need, and will sign at least three, if not four new players this summer. My view is we need a top goalkeeper, a more proven one, as well as an upgrade at centre back, and a centre forward of a different profile to Nicolas Jackson, but to compete for his place, not replace him in the team.

I think there is a possibility we sign a younger LB to provide proper competition with Marc Cucurella - Renato Veiga can play multiple positions so there’s plenty of opportunity for him anyway.

Who will we sign? Well here I’ll go into the names I want, and I think would be good fits for us.

Firstly, in goal. My pick there is Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool. With Allisson already there and Giorgi Mamardashvili joining in the summer, he’ll definitely be looking to leave to become a number one somewhere. He’s been superb for Liverpool whenever he’s played, and Liverpool have barely missed Allison.

He’s played in and won cup finals and helped them winning penalty shootouts. He’s PL proven and clearly has a strong big club mentality and could be relatively cheap. He’s only 26, which is younger than Robert Sanchez and still pretty much the age profile we want. He can do the passing out from the back and distribution Enzo Maresca demands too. To me he’s the obvious choice and attainable, for me.

Second, at centre back. There’s a lot of names, and I don’t have an out and out number one. Marc Guehi knows the club, knows the Premier League, is coming into his prime and has good leadership qualities. Antonio Silva at Benfica looks like one of the best young defenders in Europe and is in high demand. Simon has linked us with Ruben Dias from Manchester City. If that’s at all possible, we should go all out for him. He’s a top CB, has experience, leadership and organisational skills and is a winner. But I’m not sure City will let him go, he’ll definitely have to push for a move. So its more likely to be Guehi or Silva, for me. But Dias would be my pick of the three.

Third, up front. I’d not go for Viktor Gyokeres because of the cost, the potential wages and because he’d demand to start ahead of Nicolas Jackson. I also don’t think we’d get him given the number of clubs interested. But he’s an elite striker, make no mistake.

My pick would be Liam Delap, who we’ve been linked with by both Simon and now David Ornstein, so is a clear target. He’s the right profile of player, the right age, 21 with huge potential and his best years ahead of him. Delap has the power and physical presence we miss up top.

He’s relatively PL proven now, with 8 goals in his first 12 PL games for Ipswich. He’s also played under Enzo Maresca before, in PL2, scoring 20 goals in 24 games for him, so clearly knows his system and style of coaching.

Finally, there’s the link with Joe Shields from Manchester City, and the relationships with Cole Palmer and Romeo Lavia, as well as Maresca. Again, he’d be cheaper than a lot of other options and we’d have a lot of pull given the many connections.

If we did go for a LB, I suspect we’d go for Patrick Dorgu, one of the most promising LB’s in Europe right now, and someone who’s said publicly how much he loves Chelsea. He’s been on our list for a while, so it wouldn’t be a shock if we went for him.

We could probably get Kelleher, any of the three CBs named, and Delap for about £150m in total. If we did sign Dorgu too, he’d probably cost £30-40m.

That’s £180-190m this summer, plus the £20m obligation for Jadon Sancho, which would give us around a £200m spend. A figure I think we can easily cover in sales, given the amount of players we’re likely to sell this summer.

I think if you add Kellegher, Guehi/Silva/Dias, and Delap, as well as Santos, Estevao, Anselmino, Penders and Ugochukwu, then you have a squad with enough ability, depth and experience to compete for the PL title.

Given the age of the squad, its a squad which will improve every season, not need many new signings, and will be able to mount successive title and CL challenges, and eventually win these and other trophies.

I really believe we’re really well set up for the medium to long term for sustained success, as much if not more than any team in the PL. We just need a few more pieces in the jigsaw, and some more time and development, and we’ll get where we want to be.

We can already see the improvement in the team and players, and results, under Enzo Maresca, and that will only continue over time and as the squad improves. The goal has to be consistent title and CL challengers and winners. I think there’s only a few more pieces we need to make that possible.

The Score