Chelsea’s winter window is open, what do they do with it?

The transfer window has only just reopened and Chelsea is already behind. January is hardly the right time to make any seismic changes to a squad, but the Blues have very much backed themselves into the corner while also falling victim to circumstances out of their control. And with the month of January the club has in store, deals must happen and they must happen quickly.

Let’s start with the corner the club has been backed into. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but it is surely less than ideal that the club sold Fikayo Tomori, Marc Guehi, and Kurt Zouma in the summer only to turn around and see Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, Thiago Silva, and Cesar Azpilicueta all running low on their deals in January. Silva at least seems like he will extend and it wouldn’t be unsurprising to see Azpilicueta do the same, but it has felt like Christensen and Rudiger have a foot out the door for some time now. Prepared or not, Chelsea will need centerbacks (yes, likely plural) before the start of next season.

Somewhat tangentially tied to that issue is the same issue possibly occurring next season. Jorginho and N’Golo Kante will both have just one year left on their contracts this summer. Often times, that means the last chance to sell or extend. Though the club has the likes of Billy Gilmour and Conor Gallagher in the pipeline, it is still unclear whether or not they will be given a chance next season because it is unclear what the club will do with Kante and Jorginho. It’s also unclear how long the club will continue with just two centermids which could change this whole calculus by adding just one more to the starting XI. Still, even with those in the pipeline, it seems as though Chelsea will need a midfielder that offers something more similar to what Kante or Jorginho can offer compared to Gallagher or Gilmour.

Next up is the current wingback situation. That situation, of course, being that the Blues don’t really have any. Sure, there are options like Marcos Alonso, Cesar Azpilicueta, Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Saul Niguez, and Xavier Simons, but all those options will do is make Pep Guardiola’s and Jurgen Klopp’s mouths water. Plus, it hardly bodes well for rotational purposes when the choice of wingback is slow and cautious or fast and loose.

On paper, wingbacks should be the highest priority if Thomas Tuchel wants to persist with a back three as he has done. But the issue is the same as it was back when Antonio Conte was manager: it is really hard to find wingbacks. The position, despite the rise of back three in the Bundesliga and Serie A in recent seasons, is still somewhat niche. Teams that use back three tend to have wingbacks they don’t want to let go for this very reason. Furthermore, when Ben Chilwell and Reece James return, provided few complications, they will be the sure thing starters again. So any signing would come in knowing that their time in the spotlight would be brief. And that’s assuming the players are out there at all in January.

But perhaps more important than what position is targeted is how fast and how likely the signing is in January. Chelsea needs players now given they play Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham three times this month. Nothing was going to be possible for the Liverpool game but if the club acts fast they can start bringing in players for the rest. That’s why it’s important to find deals that can be done quickly that still meet the club’s standards. This isn’t the time to negotiate for a month for a Marina Granovskaia “she’s done it again!” deal. This is a time to just get the players in that can steady this season and improve next season’s chances.

There will largely be two avenues for this. The first is getting a player that the club clearly wants rid of. Lucas Digne fits into this category at Everton, though a loan with an option to buy is a much safer decision for Chelsea to make than buying him outright. Sergio Dest also seemingly fits into this category as Barcelona look to shuffle the deck now that they can.

The other avenue is that of release clauses. Triggering one more or less takes the negotiation with the club completely off the table. Chelsea would have to pay more than they like, but again, speed is critical right now. This would be the case with Jules Kounde who nearly joined in the summer under similar circumstances. An added benefit of bringing him in is that he would free up other players for other positions.

Somewhere in this is room for Aurelien Tchouameni, though that would involve a negotiation. The club can (probably) take a little more time on that deal than others as they look to snatch up players now (for a higher price) than compete with others in the summer. Plus, that gives these players an extra six months to bed in at Chelsea and learn the ins and outs of things before being thrown in the deep end next season.

That’s the January window in a nutshell. Get players in that can contribute right away while laying the foundations for the club after the exodus this summer. That may result in overpaying, but that’s the situation the Blues have found themselves in. And as mentioned at the top, the club is already behind.