Following Todd Boehly’s remarkable January spending spree, totalling £320m, Graham Potter was left with a huge squad for the remainder of this season. With only Jorginho leaving, and eight new faces arriving, Chelsea were left with 33 players on their first-team books.
Understandably, this has caused an almighty headache for the manager, as keeping everyone satisfied while maintaining positive results has so far proven to be unachievable for Potter. Should Boehly continue to stick with the 47-year-old at the helm, his task could be made even tougher next season, as already completed deals are set to add six to the playing staff total.
This is even taking into account Chelsea’s two current loanees - Joao Felix and Denis Zakaria - returning to their parent clubs, although the latter’s deal does include an option to buy. The squad additions come in the form of seven players returning from their own loan spells, alongside the arrival of Christopher Nkunku, who will join from RB Leipzig following a pre-contract agreement.
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Chief among those set to return is striker Romelu Lukaku, who signed for a club-record £97.5m in 2021. Although the Belgian reportedly wants to make his loan move permanent, Inter Milan chief Beppe Marotta has confirmed Lukaku is likely to return to Stamford Bridge this summer.
"Lukaku to stay also next year? It's too early to decide, he will return to Chelsea and we will see what's next," Marotta told Sky. "Lukaku wants to stay at Inter, for sure - we know Romelu's intention and so we will see if we can negotiate his return here."
Elsewhere, Callum Hudson-Odoi has been plying his trade in Germany after making the move to Bayer Leverkusen last summer. Injuries have led to the winger’s Chelsea career stagnating, having fallen down the pecking order, which led to his first move away from London.
The Englishman, who was previously a keen target of Bayern Munich, has been an irregular feature in the Leverkusen squad, scoring one goal and making one assist in his 20 appearances. Centre-backs Malang Sarr and Ethan Ampadu will add to Potter’s defensive ranks when their short-term deals end.
Loaned to Monaco and Spezia, respectively, both will find it difficult to break into the already-bloated squad, especially with the expensive acquisitions of Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile over the course of this campaign. Young right-back Malo Gusto may be more successful when he officially joins up with the Blues.
The club signed the 19-year-old for £26.3m in January before immediately loaning him back to Lyon to spend the remainder of the 2022/23 season. Given Chelsea’s issues when Reece James is absent, Gusto could prove more than an adequate deputy.
More experienced heads in the form of Tiemoue Bakayoko and Baba Rahman also remain on the Chelsea books, and will likely seek another move for more permanent football during the next transfer window. Given the extraordinary depth of Chelsea’s squad, it seems inconceivable there won’t be significant departures this summer to trim the group down to a more manageable size.
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