With Xabi Alonso set to take over the reins at Chelsea from next month, the club have a lot of areas to work on. At the same time, it will be equally important to maintain the core of the squad if the Blues want to compete for trophies on a consistent basis moving forward.
If you look at any successful team in the Premier League, they always had a core group of talents. Chelsea had John Terry, Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Petr Cech and Ashley Cole once upon a time.
It is now about building that same identity. And for the time being, it looks like the club have identified seven individuals who are absolutely not available in the summer transfer window.
The Athletic report that those seven players are Reece James, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Joao Pedro, Estevao and Josh Acheampong.
Chelsea have a core already
Now, the first five of those names are well-established individuals at the senior level. So, it is important that Chelsea keep them. They are nailed-on starters and have already shown they can deliver.
Estevao is someone who might be in the middle of being a wonderkid and an established player. When fit and available, he has looked more than good enough to be a starter.
Just look at the game against Barcelona, for example. He scored an immense goal and outshined Lamine Yamal on that night.
He has also proven his quality at the international level for Brazil. So, he most certainly deserves that status.
Josh Acheampong dilemma
Now, the one interesting name on this list is that of Acheampong. He is not someone who has played much football at all.
Chelsea have had three managers within a short span of time. And most of them seemed to view him as an option to bring off the bench rather than a starter.
And this was when Levi Colwill was out injured and Chelsea badly needed some stability at the back. Yet, Acheampong was overlooked.
Of course, you can say that it was a personal choice if it was one manager. But this happened under Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, as well as during Callum McFarlane’s interim run.
So, there has to be something that these managers are not seeing in Acheampong. He needs to work on that.
Or perhaps it is just a matter of them not being willing to take on a risk. The pressure is always on Chelsea managers and they often look towards established names rather than giving youth a chance.
