An ideal Chelsea squad, or any squad really, is at least two deep in every position for whatever the main tactic is. Depending on how the manager rotates, the team might go one step further and do a “plus one” policy where they have two deep in every position plus one more player that can reasonably fill in as need be.
Chelsea is, honestly, even more set up than that. The Blues have everything they need to go two deep (and often plus one) for the 3-4-3, 3-5-2, and honestly the 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, and 4-4-2 should they every need to make a switch. Going another step, they have plenty of players in the loan and academy pipeline on the verge of plugging holes going forward.
Chelsea really has no dire transfer need at the moment. What do you get the club that already has everything they need going into the winter window?
The Blues don’t need a keeper, unless Kepa Arrizabalaga suddenly wants to leave. They won’t need a centerback. Even if Antonio Rudiger doesn’t extend, there are plenty of others in the pipeline worth looking at. Wingbacks are pretty set depending on how one cuts Callum Hudson-Odoi, but the academy produces so many good wingbacks that there should be no issue there. Midfield is waiting on the moment Conor Gallagher and Billy Gilmour are ready. And the forward spots are already pretty well overstuffed in the current set up.
Any signing the club would make would have to happen because A: someone is leaving and B: there isn’t a player ready to step in from the pipeline. The only (mostly) clear player meeting A is Antonio Rudiger but unless the Blues want a transfer fee, he’s around till the summer. Then the pipeline is pretty stacked in nearly every position. To varying degrees, Levi Colwill, Conor Gallagher, and Armando Broja are making cases for at least a chance in preseason. Maybe less so with the likes of Tino Anjorin (effectively back at Chelsea after injury) and Billy Gilmour (who needs playing time). That’s not to mention buyback clauses on Tino Livramento and Tammy Abraham, the former of which has very much made a case for coming back already.
And if giving those guys a chance seems to farfetched, recent history says otherwise. Mason Mount and Reece James had little issue making the leap from Championship straight to Chelsea’s first team. Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have both shown that Thomas Tuchel is more than willing to give chances to players returning from loans, regardless of where the loan was and how well the player did. He’s also been very good about rotating so everyone in the squad feels like they have a place in the team, so Livramento returning wouldn’t have to be an either or with James for minutes.
And all of that is without considering potential transfers for Jules Kounde or Declan Rice, neither of which have been linked very strongly as of late. Then again, no one has really been linked because it is hard to find a clear hole for Chelsea to fill in January or even next summer at the moment.
Formation transformations might change this equation, but Tuchel has given little indication of experimentation beyond the 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 and the 3-5-2/3-4-1-2. Four at the back would likely require that holding midfielder that Frank Lampard sorely lacked. Two up top with four at the back might require some more natural striker depth beyond the current two strikers.
But overall, Chelsea needs nothing and wants for nothing. The Blues are flying and they can afford to be picky and conservative with signings at the moment.