Chelsea are gearing up for the defence of their Premier League crown and will be looking to improve significantly on their last campaign following winning the title, where the Blues remarkable finished tenth in the table and saw Jose Mourinho’s second stint at Stamford Bridge come to a close.
A lot has changed in the past 12 months following the end of Chelsea’s woeful title defence, with the biggest alteration being the addition of Antonio Conte- a man who got the best out of Chelsea’s under-performing side and is now shaping the squad into his own image.
Gone are John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Asmir Begovic, amongst others, with Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger, Willy Caballero and Alvaro Morata brought in. Diego Costa is also set to leave before the end of August, giving Chelsea a completely new-look side.
The frame of the squad that won the Premier League title last season will remain intact, with N’Golo Kante, Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard all playing a crucial role. However, the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses could see their playing time reduced significantly this season.
Fresh reports indicate Chelsea are ready to land their second defensive signing in the summer transfer window with the addition of Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton, in a move that could cost as much as £50m.
The Dutch defender has made it clear he wants to leave the South Coast this summer and Chelsea would be favourites to beat Liverpool to the former Celtic man’s signature, as the Reds shot themselves in the foot earlier this summer with their illegal approach and were forced to issue a public apology.
Bringing Van Dijk into Chelsea would significantly bolster the Blues’ defensive ranks, giving Conte a solid back-trio of Van Dijk, David Luiz and Rudiger, with Gary Cahill ready to step-in when required. Crucially, this would also allow Cesar Azpilicueta to return to his favoured position on the right-hand side of the defence.
Chelsea’s squad significantly lacks depth at this stage, a major concern as there’s now just over a week to go until they kick-off the defence of their title at home to Burnley, but there’s still time to improve this aspect of the squad- and Van Dijk would go a long way towards fixing Chelsea’s issues in defence.
It remains to be seen whether Roman Abramovich would sanction a move though, as the Blues have already splashed almost £120m in the summer market so far.