This Saturday will be Mauricio Pochettino's first official day in his new role as Chelsea head coach. The Argentine will begin working with his players in the coming days ahead of what is set to be a gruelling pre-season for the Blues squad.
Pochettino, rather notoriously, likes to prepare his players by putting them through some extreme fitness exercises to ensure they are in the best-possible condition for when the competitive football kicks off in August. At the moment, though, the Chelsea boss has a rather disjointed squad, with some of the players wanting to leave the club and some clearly having no future.
The club have been working behind the scenes over the last few weeks to try and offload said players. Chelsea are looking to move on ten-plus players over the course of the summer transfer window.
So far, N'Golo Kante and Kalidou Koulibaly - who have both made switches to Saudi Arabia - are the players who have left Stamford Bridge. There are, however, a whole host of players expected to join them in the coming weeks.
As well as this, the club are looking to bolster their squad with some reinforcements this summer. Football.london takes a look at what would be considered a 'dream' week for Chelsea in terms of transfer business.
Chelsea make Caicedo breakthrough
Moises Caicedo is the name on all of Chelsea supporters' lips at the moment. The Ecuador international has been identified as the club's priority this summer as they look for a new midfielder to play alongside Enzo Fernandez, who joined for over £100 million in the January transfer window.
READ MORE: Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All of the latest updates coming out of Stamford Bridge
football.london understands Chelsea and Caicedo have verbally agreed on personal terms, with the midfielder favouring a move to Stamford Bridge. However, the issue remains striking a deal with Brighton, who are well known to be tough negotiators.
The Seagulls value the 21-year-old at about £80m - a fee Chelsea are reluctant to pay. There could be ways around it, though, with add-ons and bonuses, something Chelsea are exploring.
Arsenal have also shown interest in Caicedo but with the Gunners going for Declan Rice, their attention has been elsewhere. Manchester United, too, are interested in the Brighton midfielder but Chelsea look to be the front-runners at the moment.
If Chelsea can, and it's a big if, find a breakthrough in negotiations with Brighton over the next week, then that would be absolutely huge for the club. It really would kickstart their transfer business this summer.
Loftus-Cheek sold
It looked for all of the world that Ruben Loftus-Cheek was close to moving to AC Milan a few weeks ago. The 27-year-old left Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season looking very emotional, clapping all ends of the stadium in what looked like a farewell.
And it was a farewell. Loftus-Cheek is looking to leave the club this summer and Chelsea are open to letting him go. Milan were close to signing him a few weeks ago but a change in the club's board complicated matters.
Now, however, the Italian club have reopened talks with Loftus-Cheek and his camp and a deal is now expected to be done. football.london understands Chelsea and Milan are close to agreeing on a fee that will eventually rise to £18m for the English midfielder to move to the San Siro.
Securing funds from exits
There are a host of other players who are either close to leaving Chelsea or are in talks to do so. Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech are both understood to be extremely close to securing moves to Saudi Arabia which will see the Blues receive a decent chunk of money for the duo.
Christian Pulisic has interest from Italy and talks over his future are expected to happen in the next few days. Chelsea are open to offers for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with the Gabon striker wanting to call time on his less-than-12-month period back in the Premier League.
If Chelsea can keep plugging away and offloading some of their unwanted players in the next week, then that would give Pochettino some proper foundations for when he does begin his role at the weekend.
READ NEXT:
Mason Mount to Man United latest as Chelsa agree big part of Moises Caicedo transfer
Kai Havertz to Arsenal transfer is perfect deal to kickstart new Chelsea plan under Pochettino
