If you briefly glance at Chelsea supporters on social media, it won't be too long before you come across a fan calling for the club to sign a midfielder this summer. The Blues are set for a massive squad revamp over the coming months following Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's takeover from Roman Abramovich.
Antonio Rudiger completed his free transfer to Real Madrid on Thursday, while numerous other Chelsea players are expected to follow the German out of the exit door. Andreas Christensen is set to depart, while the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso, Jorginho, Ross Barkley, N'Golo Kante, Hakim Ziyech, Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic are also being linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea will need to look at replacing any outgoings from their squad, as well as looking to bolster Thomas Tuchel's options to try and bridge the gap to Liverpool and Manchester City. The midfield is an area that could definitely do with some surgery.
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As mentioned above, Jorginho, Barkley and Kante have all been involved in recent transfer rumours. The midfield trio all have just 12 months remaining on their respective contracts. As of right now, it looks like Chelsea are more determined to extend Kante's stay than the other two.
Conor Gallagher is expected to return to Chelsea this summer and fight for a place in the first-team. The England international, who spent last season on loan at Crystal Palace, recently had a positive meeting with Tuchel regarding his future, football.london understands. Billy Gilmour could also stay with the Blues next season and fight for a place.
The returning loanees has not stopped Chelsea assessing their options in the summer transfer market. Declan Rice is of interest to the Blues, as is Aurelien Tchouameni, but there are problems with both.
Rice is expected to be available for nothing less than £150million, with West Ham United determined to keep hold of their star midfielder. The 23-year-old has just over two years remaining on his contract with the Hammers and is understood to be reluctant to put pen to paper on extending his stay.
Chelsea may be better allowing Rice to run down his contract another 12 months before going all out for him next summer. However, that is a risk with so many clubs interested in the England international's services.
Meanwhile, Tchouameni, who is a long-term target of Chelsea's, is close to sealing a big-money move to Real Madrid. The AS Monaco midfielder looks to be Bernabeu-bound after impressing in Ligue 1 over the course of the 2021/22 season.
Now, though, with those two targets looking somewhat unrealistic this summer, Chelsea have identified an alternative to both. According to The Si & Dan Talk Chelsea Podcast, the Blues are interested in Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
The likes of Manchester City and Man United have also been linked with a move for the Whites midfielder. According to a report from the Manchester Evening News in April, United are working on a deal to try and sign Phillips, who has been impressive ever since Leeds were promoted to the Premier League for the 2020/21 season.
Man City, meanwhile, seem to be the favourites to land the 26-year-old midfielder. The Mirror reported last month that the recently-crowned Premier League champions have identified Phillips as a potential replacement for Ilkay Gundogan, who has been strongly linked with a departure from the Etihad Stadium before the start of next season.
Phillips' contract at Elland Road is due to expire in the summer of 2024 and he recently insisted he was happy with the Yorkshire club, despite their disappointing 2021/22 season. He told BBC Radio Leeds: "I've made what I want to do clear.
"I've made my intentions clear. I want to be at Leeds and I'll focus on that until my contract ends. I'm not really worried about it too much.
"It's always been something I've been confident about sorting whenever it needs sorting. There's always going to be noise when you're an England international and you're playing for one of the biggest teams in the country, and I think until the end of the season, I'll be happy at Leeds and always will be."
