What Chelsea’s explosive £607m starting line-up could look like next season

With another season nearly in the books, it’s time for Chelsea fans to look forward to another summer of free spending and for neutrals to kick back with a bowl of popcorn and enjoy speculating over how they’re going to burn through their dollar bills this time. Chelsea are, if nothing else, entertaining in the transfer market.

But with the season ending on a relatively positive note and many of the more expensive recent acquisitions gradually improving – and several others hoping to be fit enough to actually get some game time next year – there’s some hope that Chelsea might just be heading back in the right direction again under Mauricio Pochettino. That probably won’t stop the owners from splashing some serious cash this summer, though.

We’ve rummaged through all of the transfer rumours doing the rounds to see what their wildly expensive starting line-up might look like next season, and to find out just how their transfer targets could change the shape of the squad.

GK: Jan Oblak (£26m)

It’s no big secret that Chelsea have not been especially impressed with last summer’s new goalkeeping signing Robert Sánchez, and it seems likely that they will try to move on in the coming transfer window. They’ve been linked tentatively to a players, but 31-year-old Atlético Madrid stopper Oblak, who is widely regarded as one of the most reliable number ones in the world, is the starriest name that has cropped up repeatedly on the rumour mill. Transfermarkt estimate his value at €30m.

LB: Luca Netz (£13m)

Quite a few reporters with an inside track at Stamford Bridge have left-back down as a priority position this summer, perhaps because the club want to move Marc Cucurella on and don’t feel able to rely on the fitness of Ben Chilwell. 21-year-old Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Netz is a name that has been widely linked with the club – a talented all-rounder who reads the game well and offers plenty going forward. CIES Football Observatory suspect he’d cost around €15m, but we think the eventual price would be higher as quite a few clubs are tracking him.

CB: Levi Colwill (home-grown)

Chelsea might seem to see home-grown players as saleable assets first and first-team players second, but there’s little chance they let Colwill leave despite tentative links with a move to Liverpool. He’s been too impressive and is too popular with the fans for the club to risk moving him on. Conor Gallagher, on the other hand, seems increasingly likely to leave to free up some spending space.

CB: Ousmane Diomande (£50m)

Chelsea have already spent big on players like Wesley Fofana and Axel Disasi, but with Fofana coming back from a serious ACL injury, Thiago Silva leaving for Fluminense and other options struggling to convince consistently, it looks likely that Chelsea will dip back into the centre-back market this summer. A wide range of teams have been linked with Sporting defender Diomande, but it looks likely that he’ll move on this summer, with his club reportedly open to bids in the €50-60m region according to the latest updates from Portugal.

RB: Malo Gusto (£30m)

There are question marks over the future of Reece James given his seemingly endless fitness struggles, but Gusto won’t be going anywhere – he’s been one of the most consistent of Chelsea’s expensive young signings and while he might end up costing a little over £30m if all the add-on clauses in his deal are triggered, it looks likely to be money well spent.

DM: Moisés Caicedo (£115m)

Caicedo had a nightmarish debut after his big-money move from Brighton & Hove Albion and has drawn distinctly mixed reviews since, but he costs too much money to be abandoned after one season. A big talent who still needs to find his feet at Stamford Bridge, he’ll be given the chance – but may face stiff competition for his place from Roméo Lavia, who missed the vast majority of this season through injury.

DM: Enzo Fernández (£107m)

The World Cup winner has had a similarly up-and-down time since joining for a vast sum of money, but will also get another chance to show what he can do in 2024/25. Chelsea’s owners might be prepared to move on from big investments, but even they have their limits…

AM: Georgiy Sudakov (£65m)

The talented young Ukrainian playmaker has been repeatedly linked with a move to Stamford Bridge from Shakhtar Donetsk, with most reports placing the asking price around £65m. There is almost certainly genuine interest from the club, and there’s a very decent chance that this is where they spend the Gallagher money. A fine passer who’s good in front of goal, Sudakov can play on the left but would be a natural fit at number ten.

LW: Mykhaylo Mudryk (£89m)

Sudakov’s former team-mate still divides opinion two years on from his bank-breaking move from Shakhtar. After a rough ride in his first campaign at Chelsea, there have been signs of definite improvement from Mudryk but he still doesn’t produce the goals and assists he needs to in order to live up to his price tag. He has a contract into the next decade, however, so this is another project that will be persisted with. Raheem Sterling’s future is less clear-cut.

RW: Cole Palmer (£47.5m)

Whenever Chelsea win, it seems to be because of Palmer. An inspired signing who has lifted the club, he’ll continue to be a key player next year. The recent form of Noni Madueke may see Palmer played through the centre a fair amount, too, but right wing is probably his default starting position for now, especially if the club end up spending big on a shiny new striker…

CF: Victor Osimhen (£112m)

Will Chelsea be able to free up enough cash to make the statement signing they want this summer? That isn’t clear yet, but it’s abundantly clear at this point that Chelsea’s decision makers really want to get Osimhen if they can. Napoli are reportedly insistent that any bidders pay the entirety of his €130m release clause, which is massive money even by Chelsea’s standards, and this could well be a deal that breaks down because of the practicalities – but if Chelsea can get their man, they quite possibly will. What his signing would mean for the likes of Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku is less clear…