Chelsea have had an incredible January of transfers, with Enzo Fernandez set to break the British transfer record if he joins, and they could be even stronger next season.
Fernandez is expected to become the eighth signing of the January transfer window for Graham Potter’s side, after they bid £105 million for the World Cup winning midfielder.
It will mean that Todd Boehly has spent well over £500 million on signings since buying the club last summer, but it’s not expected to end there.
One of football’s worst kept secrets seems to be that Christopher Nkunku will join the Blues from RB Leipzig in the summer, with claims the deal is already done.
It’s unlikely that’ll be the end of the signings from west London either, with a goalkeeper rumoured to be of interest to Potter, whilst there is also some excellent players to come back off loan.
All that means the manager will have some huge decisions to make when it comes to picking his team next season, not least with so much attacking talent.
We’ve had a look at three ways that the two times Champions League winners could line up when it comes to the 2023/24 campaign, based on signings, rumours and returning loan stars.
Chelsea’s first potential line up. Image: buildlineup
Benoit Badeshille has been the standout of the Blues’ January acquisitions so far and already looks at home in the Premier League, after moving from Monaco.
He could be joined at the back by fellow Frenchman Wesley Fofana, who has been out injured since October due to an injury.
Fofana could return before the end of this season but it might take him a while to be back to the kind of form that persuaded Chelsea to pay £80 million for him last summer.
Reece James has abily moved into playing as the right sided centre back before and the signing of Malo Gusto from Lyon, who will finish the season with Laurent Blanc’s team, means that the England international could move back there.
Fernandez is sure to be a main stay in the midfield after breaking the British transfer record, whilst Mount’s future is questionable due to Liverpool’s interest, but makes the team as long as he’s still in London.
In attack, Potter can get Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke firing on all cylinders in the next few months, before adding Nkunku in the summer for an attack that actually scores goals.
Chelsea’s alternative XI. Image: buildlineup
In our second line up, Fofana keeps his side in the team alongside the highly experienced Thiago Silva, whilst James moves back to his more natural right wing back position.
Levi Colwill has been extremely impressive on loan at Brighton this season and could return to play a part for Potter’s side from August.
In the past the Blues have lost the likes of Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi for not playing them often enough, and having to replace them with expensive signings, such as Fofana, hopefully they won’t make the same mistake with Colwill.
Mount moves into the forward positions, where he is good at pressing from the front and in midfield is the forgotten man N’Golo Kante.
The Frenchman has been injured since August, playing just two games, the club are reportedly going to offer him a new deal and if he can get fit he remains a brilliant player.
And what if Chelsea make some more big deals in the summer. Image: buildlineup
Potter played three at the back with Brighton and has done the same at Stamford Bridge, but it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a possibility of him switching it up.
I won’t lie, I was going to put Jorginho in this line up, but then he suddenly made a move to Arsenal on deadline day, so there had to be a switch in midfield.
Declan Rice has long been linked with a switch to the Blues, although the Gunners have recently also become favourites to sign him.
If the Blues decide they need to replace Jorginho in the summer then Rice could be the perfect player to fit into their stacked squad.
At some point Kai Havertz has to come good for Chelsea, or potentially leave, and he might fit into this system with a real number nine.
Ahead of him could still be Romelu Lukaku, with the Belgian still a Chelsea player and could yet return from his loan at Inter Milan, with the Italians unlikely to spend big on a player who has been injured so much.
One day someone is going to get a tune out of the former Manchester United striker again, and maybe it’ll be Potter, who also needs to get more out of Raheem Sterling.
Finally, Edouard Mendy’s fall out of the first team has seen Kepa Arrizabalaga return to the starting line up but that isn’t necessarily a long term thing.
The Blues have been linked with a number of goalkeepers, including Leeds United number one Ilan Meslier, who could benefit from having two countrymen in front of him at centre back.
