Chelsea's £60m flop will be handed a 'lifeline' by incoming manager Mauricio Pochettino.

When Mauricio Pochettino settles into his new office at Chelsea’s smart Cobham training base he has much to get his head around. This bloated Chelsea squad needs some tender care to bring star players back to life - but ruthless decisions also need to be made in order to trim the playing staff.
The to-do list is not short yet he has to start getting through it fast. Choices over the future of some well established players as well as some emerging stars are going to give him early headache. Here we look at some of the situations that need sorting... Goalkeeper When Chelsea begin the next campaign it is almost certain that one of the current keepers will be gone and at the moment Edouard Mendy the favourite to do so.
At least three clubs are interested, with French club Monaco thought to be leading the race at this early stage. But there is also real potentialh for them to go into the market and buy a goalkeeper. Mike Maignan, Diogo Costa and Andre Onana have all been admired but a decision identifying the right one would be made as a group at Chelsea rather than Poch alone.

Defence

The defence is complicated and players will need to fit his model. Malo Gusto will be welcomed into the club as back-up to Reece James while Levi Colwill is going to be in the mix over pre-season as he attempts to force his way into the set-up - and there is a good feeling about his chances of doing so.

Poch is likely to play with a four-man defence and it will be good news for £60m man Marc Cucurella as a new lease of life and some encouragement from a good man-manager is likely to help him into a second season as back-up challenger to Ben Chilwell. It is felt this is the appointment that gives him a Chelsea lifeline.

He has to make decisions over Kalidou Koulibaly and Cesar Azpilicueta too. Poch is a long-term admirer of Koulibaly and is likely to try to persuade him to stick around. The feeling around Chelsea has been that a struggle to settle is leading him to consider a move back to Italy.

Azpilicueta’s best playing levels might be being him but Pochettino will need voices in the dressing room in his early days and while there will be speculation over him leaving, his insight on individuals could be quite important.

Trevoh Chalobah is one of the players under threat, particularly if Colwill impresses.

Declan Rice has long been mooted as a top target for Chelsea and that conversation will be escalated early into Poch’s reign as the Blues need to move fast if they want to challenge Arsenal and others for his signature. Romeo Lavia is a serious candidate for incoming transfer.

Attack

There will be real intrigue around Noni Madueke and Carney Chukwuemeka and both will welcome this opportunity as they wait for their big breakthrough at the Bridge.

But the attacking cull has to start quickly. All signs around Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech have pointed towards the exit door while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is almost certain to go.

Comments

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