Mauricio Pochettino has a busy summer ahead of him at Chelsea

A new EPOCH! Mauricio Pochettino inherits a Chelsea side almost unrecognisable from the one that won the Champions League two years ago… the ex-Spurs boss has a busy summer ahead of him in the transfer market

  • Much of Chelsea’s 2021 Champions League-winning side have departed the club
  • A number of club’s top stars also look set to depart Stamford Bridge this summer
  • Mauricio Pochettino will inherit a clean slate of players when he takes charge 

The disintegration of the Roman Abramovich-era Chelsea will continue apace this week as Manchester United and Chelsea wrangle over a suitable Mason Mount fee, with United threatening to walk away and allow the player to leave free next season after having a £55million bid rejected.

Assuming Mount does leave, then of the 23-man squad that won the Champions League in 2021 — the starting XI and 12 more on the bench — only Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva and Kepa Arrizabalaga are likely to start next season.

With man of the match against Manchester City that evening, N’Golo Kante, having left for Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia last week, the goal-scorer Kai Havertz leaving for Arsenal, club captain Cesar Azpilicueta in talks with Inter and keeper Eduoard Mendy close to a move to Al-Ahli, also in Saudi Arabia, the core of that team has now departed in what has been a dramatic and problematic 12 months since the Todd Boehly/Behdad Eghbali takeover.

Even given the turnover rate of modern football, that is an extraordinary transformation, meaning the Mauricio Pochettino era will begin with almost an entire clean slate of players, the vast majority having been signed under Boehly in the past 12 months.

Additional imminent departures are Mateo Kovacic, who came on as a substitute in the 2021 final, moving to Manchester City and Christian Pulisic, who also came on, likely to move to Serie A. Of the Boehly failed signings, Kalidou Koulibaly is set to leave for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.

Mauricio Pochettino will inherit a Chelsea squad that is in the midst of a significant overhaul

Mason Mount’s future with the Blues remains uncertain with the academy graduate having just 12 months remaining on his current deal with the club

It means that Pochettino, who officially starts work later this week, still needs a keeper to replace Mendy, though Chelsea look to be behind United in the race to sign Inter’s Andre Onana.

They are expected to make another move for Brighton’s Moses Caicedo this week but that will mean engaging again with the south coast club who want to sign Levi Colwill, with Chelsea determined to keep the centre half who has performed so well on loan at the Amex.

The arrival of Christopher Nkunku last week still leaves Pochettino searching for a No.9, with Inter’s Lautaro Martinez still the favoured choice. 

But much this season will depend on what Pochettino can get out of the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Wesley Fofana, Mykhailo Mudryk, Marc Cucurella, Raheem Sterling and Benoit Badiashile, the principal and most expensive signings in last season’s £600m spree, all of whom underwhelmed, as Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League, with the club still needing to balance the books to meet financial fair play rules.



Meanwhile Edouard Mendy (left), Kalidou Koulibaly (C) and N’golo Kante (R) will all depart Stamford Bridge this summer

Brazil youth international Andrey Santos could feature in the coming campaign after spending last season out on loan

Much is expected of 17-year-old Andrey Santos, who was signed from Vasco da Gama for £18m but loaned back to the Brazilian club. He is now eligible for a work permit and Chelsea insiders think that he may prove one of the best signings of last summer.

That said, the squad face a gruelling few weeks of pre-season under Pochettino’s son, Sebastiano, and Jesus Perez, who will run pre-season endurance training.

Their regime is said to be among the most gruelling in football, with Perez a stickler for athletic conditioning as a basic prerequisite.

Chelsea head to the United States in mid-July for a tour which takes in North Carolina, Atlanta, Maryland, Philadelphia and Chicago, with fixtures against Wrexham, Brighton, Newcastle, Fulham and Borussia Dortmund.


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