Chelsea's new ownership structure could hand Thomas Tuchel a dream La Liga double transfer swoop in the summer to replace the outgoing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen.
Planning for the summer has been slow for the Blues, who are still under the imposed sanctions that the government had placed on the club after the Roman Abramovich drama started to unfold. Marina Granovskaia's, Bruce Buck's and Petr Cech's futures have been thrown into doubt but it's not just executives that have had their futures questioned, it is also certain members of the playing squad who have their futures all up in the air.
Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have seemingly decided to leave for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively with Sport Witness reporting that Los Blancos are paying up to £75million in total to complete the free transfer operation. But the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho and Romelu Lukaku are amongst a few players who could look for a departure this summer for various reasons.
"At the moment, it is not possible because of the sanctions. And even when the sanctions are in the past, it will be incredibly difficult," Tuchel admitted in a recent press conference. "Toni is what he is. He is a big personality, a big leader, he takes the fear away from other people, gives you confidence when he is next to you and has played 50-60 matches over 90 minutes with incredible consistency. So it will be challenging, but like always, no matter how much I love Toni and how big a role he played, there will be Chelsea without Toni Rudiger, and we will find solutions."
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Rudiger is irreplaceable as he is a unique character but the Blues will be looking at the different type of characters to make up the foundation of what could be a very new backline in 2022/23. It is already common knowledge that Sevilla's Jules Kounde is the number one target in terms of being an external option for the summer but promising youngster Levi Colwill is also expected to be given a chance.
Alternatively, both Colwill and Kounde's recruitment could coincide with yet another defensive signing which wouldn't come as much surprise, especially considering the money both Jim Ratcliffe and Todd Boehly have proposed in their respective takeover offers regarding player recruitment. Step forward Villarreal centre-back Pau Torres, who is being monitored by numerous clubs in the Premier League including Tottenham, Man City and Man United, but it seems as though the west Londoners could leapfrog all their competitors in this race with one big action.
According to Spanish outlet La Razon, Chelsea are highly interested in signing Unai Emery's best centre-half and they are willing to signal their intent by triggering the £50million release clause in the Spaniard's contract. It would be a move that wouldn't come as a shock to many with the Blues already accustomed to triggering release clauses in their past negotiations with Timo Werner's £47.5m move the most recent example in the summer of 2020.
Chelsea fans- how many centre-backs do the club need to sign this summer and who would your preferred options be to replace the likes of the outgoing Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
