Chelsea: What shape are Blues in as Mauricio Pochettino arrives?
- Published
Chelsea's side for the first game of 2023-24 is likely to be much changed from the one that ended 2022-23
These are busy times at Stamford Bridge.
After a season in which they spent lavishly and failed spectacularly, Chelsea seem to be wasting little time over their big summer reset under owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.
The process of trimming their bloated first-team squad and satisfying Financial Fair Play stipulations has begun with some high-profile departures, and many others are expected to follow out of the exit door.
There will be signings too, with forward Christopher Nkunku already in the building and others rumoured to follow. And then there's the main arrival - new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Ahead of the Argentine officially starting work on 1 July, BBC Sport takes a look at the current state of play with the club as they look to put a dreadful season behind them and wheel out Boehly's Blues 2.0.
Putting a strategy in place
What Chelsea cannot afford this season is a repeat of a chaotic 2022-23.
In finishing 12th, the Blues recorded their lowest Premier League finish since 1993-94 (14th), while their 16 defeats ranked as their most in a league campaign since that same rocky Glenn Hoddle-led campaign (17) almost 30 years ago.
Third-round exits from both domestic cups last term were followed by a quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Chelsea went through four managers. Thomas Tuchel was sacked six games into the Premier League campaign and his expensive replacement Graham Potter departed less than seven months later, leading to a one-game interim period under Bruno Salter and finally the caretaker management of the returning Frank Lampard.
Potter was meant to be a long-term appointment, but 12 wins from 31 games, a lack of progress in performances and hostility from the stands ultimately cost him.
The turbulence speaks of a club either lacking or struggling to implement a clear plan - something also borne out in their transfer strategy.
American investor Boehly and consortium partners Clearlake splashed out around £600m to sign the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana in the summer of 2022 before adding eight more players to the squad in winter, including midfielder Enzo Fernandez for a British record £107m. Many of those who signed did so on unusually lengthy contracts.
In the short term it provided the Blues with a talented but huge and dysfunctional squad, vastly overloaded in some areas yet still somehow without a world-class number nine.
The Blues' transfer balancing act
There are expected to be plenty of transfer ins and outs happening at Chelsea this summer
The early signs are that some lessons have been learned.
The squad stripping has already begun, with Mateo Kovacic joining Manchester City and Koulibaly,N'Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy moving to clubs in Saudi Arabia.
It has been suggested that others - such as winger Hakim Ziyech - will follow to the Middle Eastern country, while Kai Havertz has sealed a move to Arsenal, Mason Mount is set to join Manchester United and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is close to joining AC Milan. And then there's the future of strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Romelu Lukaku to sort.
Feathers have been ruffled by some of this activity, with concern expressed in some quarters about whether there is Saudi involvement at Chelsea. There is uncertainty over whether PIF, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, holds a stake in Clearlake Capital, but club sources have rejected suggestions of any direct involvement.
The incoming money certainly helps the club's quest to be compliant with FFP after such a vast outlay last season.
This summer is all about progression for the Blues, though, so outgoings must go in hand with intelligent signings.
Chelsea will argue this process has already begun, with much of last year's recruitment focused on young, exciting talent with a high ceiling. More will be expected of the likes of Fernandez, Fofana, defender Benoit Badiashile and forwards Mykhaylo Mudryk and Noni Madueke this campaign, while right-back Malo Gusto and midfielder Andrey Santos will return from loans to properly begin their Premier League careers.
Nkunku is this summer's sole significant signing to date, with the France international bringing pace, dribbling skills and an impressive goals record to a number of potential roles across the front line.
The London giants are also reportedly on the verge of signing Villarreal's Nicolas Jackson,, external a 22-year-old Senegal international who very much fills the number nine role, and are one of a number of clubs in the race to sign highly rated Brighton midfielder Moises Caidedo.
What is clear is that the squad Pochettino selects to face Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on the opening weekend of the 2023-24 season will be very different to that picked by Lampard for the home draw with Newcastle that concluded the previous campaign.
Time for Pochettino to get to work
Pochettino has a Premier League win percentage of 51.56 from 256 games with Southampton and then Tottenham
Pochettino's appointment is the first notable coach decision entrusted to sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart. The pair lauded the Argentine as "the exceptional candidate" in their exhaustive search for a permanent successor to Potter.
After leaving his role as Paris St-Germain head coach at the end of 2021-22, Pochettino has been patient over his return to management. He has clearly been sold on the project Chelsea are selling.
The former Spurs boss has been handed an initial two-year deal with an option for a third season - another sign of lessons being learned by Chelsea following the largely unfulfilled and expensive five-year contract handed to Potter.
Pochettino won the first trophies of his managerial career during his time in France, but most will associate him with his last stint in London, where he built an exciting Tottenham side, leading them to three top-three Premier League finishes and the 2019 Champions League final.
Like all good coaches, he has been adaptable in his tactical set-up throughout his career, but has largely favoured an attacking 4-3-3 approach - one that would seem to suit many of the players at his disposal at his new club.
We have yet to hear from Pochettino about his new job and how he intends to attack it, but that is sure to change once his contract with the club begins on Saturday.
European football expert Guillem Balague believes Pochettino is a manager looking to get back to the qualities that helped forge his stellar reputation.
"What his time at PSG taught him is he needs to return to his essence, with all his passion and intensity, not dissimilar to the relationship he enjoyed with his players at Spurs," Balague told BBC Sport.
"He needs to have the energy to be able to mould players, know that the players are listening to him and have the authority to ensure that this is happening.
"He realises that, at Chelsea, he needs to control the agenda as much as possible - something he could not do at PSG.
"Most importantly, he needs to get the message across that this will not be a quick fix and, more than vast sums of money, what is required most is time."
This is not something he has the luxury of initially. On Saturday, his work begins. On 19 July, Chelsea begin their pre-season tour of the USA with a game against newly promoted League Two side Wrexham. Just 25 days later, Liverpool travel to Stamford Bridge for the first league game of the season.
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