Unlike most other top clubs in the English Premier League, Chelsea have been quiet in the 2022 transfer window. The West London club haven’t made a single marquee addition in the first month of the window, with the change of ownership and management staff behind the scenes causing delays in the recruitment process for the Blues.
While 2022 is a summer of change for Chelsea off the pitch, there is also significant upheaval needed on it, with plenty of marquee names leaving Stamford Bridge for other adventures. After a failed homecoming, Romelu Lukaku returned to Inter Milan on loan, while centre-backs Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, and possibly Cesar Azpilicueta leaving for Spain’s two giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Chelsea may not have Roman’s millions to support them anymore, but the Blues need to do some significant shopping this summer to build their squad, and here are three players Tomas Tuchel’s side can sign in the 2022 transfer window.
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Chelsea must revamp their attack once again this season following the departure of Romelu Lukaku, and with Kai Havertz preferred as the central striker/false nine, the Blues need a new winger this summer. The ideal signing for Chelsea in this position would be Manchester City superstar Raheem Sterling, who is reportedly looking for a move away from the Etihad with only one year left on his contract.
Sterling has been City’s leading goal-scorer in the league over their previous two title-winning seasons and has played an integral part in Guardiola’s system as a touchline winger. At Chelsea, Sterling would slot in seamlessly anywhere across the front three, giving the Blues one of the best English players in the league in the prime of their career at age 27.
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If Chelsea stick with a back three next season under Tomas Tuchel, the centre-back they must target this summer to bolster their ranks is Sevilla’s Joules Kounde. At 5”10, Kounde doesn’t have the height to be a dominant centre-back in a back four in the Premier League despite being Sevilla’s most aerially dominant player. However, those issues are less of a factor in a back three, making him the perfect solution to their problem at the heart of the defence.
Kounde is an athletic phenom, blessed with an electric turn of pace and acceleration that will let him seamlessly adapt to the Premier League, allowing him to make up for any rash mistakes with his recovery speed. Although the Frenchman will be expensive – fee upwards of €60 million – Kounde is an excellent reader of the game and can press high with intensity as an outside centre-back as well as carry the ball up-field.
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Christopher Nkunku bagged 19 non-penalty goals and 13 assists for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga last season, helping him pip Robert Lewandowski to win the player of the season award in Germany for 2021/22. The Frenchman also scored 11 goals for the German club in Europe last season playing across the front three in Leipzig’s 3-4-2-1 system.
Nkunku thrived in between the lines of opposing defences, and those abilities would make him an excellent fit at Chelsea as one of the two inside forwards alongside Mason Mount in a 3-4-3. Unlike previous Chelsea Bundesliga attacking signings Havertz and Werner, Nkunku excels in the half-spaces due to his superior technical ability, and the Frenchman could be Chelsea’s answer to Nunez or Haaland as a versatile forward looking to take the next step in their career in the Premier League.
[Featured Image Credit: Raheem Sterling]
Shivaan Shah