Chelsea transfer rumours with debates on the key Blues decisions for January including talk of Ivan Toney, Victor Osimhen and a new centre-back

In January 2023 ,Chelsea shocked the world of football by outspending Europe’s top leagues with their own deals alone. Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ripped up the record books and made Enzo Fernandez the most expensive player in British history, at the time, and preceeded it with seven other deals. Under Mauricio Pochettino in 2024 we’re expecting a quieter time. Here, football.london has the latest rumours and debate over transfer stories leading up to January

For a team that has spent over £1billion ($1.2bn) on new players in the past three windows alone it is hard to see just what Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea could possibly need to do when the January window opens in under four weeks. The Blues have changed their squad over a 12 month period more than most do in three years yet not all the issues have been solved.

Partially, this is down injuries meaning that Pochettino has simply been yet to select his best team for a single game yet this season. Even when Christopher Nkunku returns it will be without Romeo Lavia initially and then Ben Chilwell to start with at least. To judge and build a firm idea of just where this squad is beore these things is perhaps unfair.

However, the overriding feeling that things should be better regardless remains. Pochettino will be under pressure to turn form around and build consistency in 2024 and that might start with the front of the team. Much of the talk continues to suggest that Chelsea will be all in for a striker in January and if not then then the summer.

Ivan Toney is the most acquirable mid-way through the season but Victor Osimhen is another name on the lists of those that are looking for an extra piece of firepower. Chelsea just signed Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku though. Armando Broja is touted as being a player that can kick on under Pochettino, too.

So just why are Chelsea looking for yet another new No.9, is it smart and what would it do to the dynamics of the squad?

football.london says: Unlike last winter when Chelsea needed major surgery throughout and had to wait until the summer to properly amend the mistakes that have been made, this year there is less need for drastic action. The signings have been made and time is the best healer.

The fact that the team still sits tenth is not because of one specific player or position. A clinical goalscorer, like Toney or Osimhen, would maybe have won them more games up to this point – whereby performances have massively been better than results for the most part – but the whole point of much of this plan is to build for the future.

Without Nkunku, a central part to the attacking moves in pre-season, there has been an understandable hiccup. Making a move to repair this in January feels weird considering the ammunition might already be there, just waiting. Jackson has been what many expected from a 22-year-old winger moved to the middle less than 12 months ago with one season of top level senior football. That’s what Pochettino is working with.

This is also what the owners chose to do. If that shifts in January then it really does only represent even more muddled thinking, not some new form of ambition. A third genuine striker – because Nkunku is a Swiss Army Knife-type player that can do it all from anywhere – in a season would be a strange move, even if Jackson is at AFCON.

With no regular midweek football there just isn’t the need to have more than five players all competing for minutes. That might change next year but next year isn’t right now and with the hopes for Lavia it simply doesn’t make sense.

As for defence, it’s largely the same. In 2024 it feels like this is a more pressing area, though even Trevoh Chalobah’s impending exit won’t change much. Silva leaving is a real possibility and that would need replacing in some way. However, once again, in January the numbers just wouldn’t fit and even then you can say that Fofana’s return and Humphreys coming in might be enough if the current crop grow like many hope they will.

It would take something drastic for this to change, but through a mixture of loans and others deals it shouldn’t be ruled out that Chelsea shock us all again.

Broja has hardly had a sniff due to injury and would have his pathway blocked, so letting him leave on loan or permanently is just as silly as buying someone else to compete with him. Toney can’t play until the end of the month anyway and Osimhen would break yet another league record.

Doing striker business in January is a bad look at the best of times and in this scenario it shouldn’t need to be said that actually just waiting and having some patience with the options currently at the club is a more viable solution. Come the summer, who knows?

If the striker spot is taking up the most attention, then the rest of the team’s needs are a bit foggy. At centre-back, the options are currently strong with four playing at once against Brighton with Wesley Fofana sidelined. However, there is a debate to be had over just how long Thiago Silva is to remain at the club.

Should he leave, understandably, at the end of this season and call time on his biology-defying spell in west London then it leaves four options with three aged 23 or under. Bashir Humphreys might be someone that has a role to play but the youngster hasn’t played Premier League minute.

Chelsea are reportedly looking at this position in 2024, with the latest report being that Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah is on their radar. Other names have cropped up, too.

This isn’t the only area that may need reinforcement, though. Although Lavia hasn’t played so it’s not entirely fair to say the squad lacks options, it is worrying just how out of kilter and depth the team can look when there is an injury and also a suspension or other knock to deal with.

Having sold more midfielders than any other position over the summer and done a good job of restocking, it is a surprise to even have to consider this but the absence of Conor Gallagher against Manchester United and uncertainty over Lesley Ugochukwu’s readiness for first team football right now leaves it a topic on the table.

Andrey Santos is expected to return in January from his loan at Nottingham Forest but will ideally be sent out again elsewhere, a matter that has its own questions. Mid-season, though, which spot should take precedent, is there really a need for more players in either slot right now and how does Lavia simply solve it all?

football.london says: Now we’re talking. There is genuine reason to think that actually Chelsea don’t need to buy in either of these spots in January unless something unmissable comes up. It’s easier said than done to spot one of these deals – Fernandez himself last winter perhaps? – but really should be the limit.

The midfield is fine for numbers as long as discipline improves and Ugochukwu continues his progression. When Lavia does come back he can be intergrated steadily because Alex Matos, who is currently in the spot that a fifth choice would have, has hardly had a look in unsurprisingly.