Chelsea still have 15 matches to play before the January transfer window opens and given there is a World Cup to be played in the meantime, it is a long way away still.
That won't be stopping Todd Boehly and his co-owners from making plans alongside Graham Potter for the upcoming window. The new manager will be have snap decisions put to him in the early weeks of his reign with key issues to resolve over the coming months.
This will include contractual input, transfer targets and also opinions on incoming directors. It is all very soon for that to be happening considering Potter has only been in charge of one game so far but there is unlikely to be much rest for the manager with the magnitude of the job at hand.
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Alongside having to make judgement calls on Jorginho and N'Golo Kante's long-term future, meanwhile this is without having seen Kante play, Potter must decide where January funds are best spent. By no means is everything going to be possible in one window, especially not one coming off the back of a World Cup, but nevertheless changes throughout the club are expected and one deal is already through the door.
After being confirmed as a summer signing earlier this season Chicago Fire goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina will return to Stamford Bridge in January after the MLS season finishes. Slonina signed part way through his side's campaign and went back to his boyhood club on loan for the rest of the season.
It has been a tough ride for the Fire who are 12th in the Eastern Conference out of 14 sides and with two matches to go they can't make the play-offs. This means that Slonina's season will be over by the end of October and will journey to his new club in the winter.
Despite a disappointing season in the league, in-which Fire have so far conceded 45 goals in 32 matches, 18-year-old Slonina has had a good year personally, putting together quite the highlights reel.
As a teenager nobody ranked better according to WhoScored this season in the league, and making 43 senior appearances before turning 19 is mightily impressive. It has brought about comparisons to Chelsea's decision to sign Thibaut Courtois from Genk.
With Edouard Mendy in poor form towards the end of Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea tenure and Kepa no more assured, it does open up a small chance at Chelsea for Slonina. Although it would be a massive step up and the chances of him being used at all this season are small, with with him returning in January and having at least the opportunity to meet his new manager could provide talks regarding his future to commence.
The likelihood, even at this stage, is that he will go out on loan for the remainder of the season and be judged in a full pre-season by Potter, but given his impressive mentality and the uncertainty of both Chelsea keepers, it is not unthinkable that he fancies his chances at proving a point to Potter when he does return.
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