Pre-Season Profile: Chelsea

Courtesy of Ungry Young Man

Managerial Stability:
Antonio Conte has the strange distinction of having won the league and not being secure in his job, although it has to be admitted that this uncertainty comes from him as opposed to the Chelsea board. Rumours started flying about his position as early as March this year as it became clear that former Inter manager Stefano Pioli wasn't going to be at the San Siro for long. The Suning Group, owners of Inter for the last year, have made it very clear, albeit indirectly through various media outlets, that they are willing to go to great lengths to bring Conte to Inter and return them to former glories, even going as far as hiring Walter Sabiatini as technical director, something that Conte tried to make happen at Chelsea last summer to no avail.

Then there is the fact that Chelsea's transfer policy is a broth with many cooks, the manager being just one of those, something that Conte, it appears, has not taken to kindly, despite his public protestations to the contrary. Finally we come to the Diego Costa text message debacle, Conte's policy of total club control has rubbed some of the Chelsea hierarchy the wrong way after he told Diego Costa, quite brutally, that he wouldn't be needed next season. All this makes for an interesting summer at Stamford Bridge, with these uncertainties sure to affect transfer policy and preparations in general.

Transfer Needs/Wants:
Like Leicester last year, although to a much lesser degree, there was a feeling that Chelsea's title win, or at least the ease with which it happened, was due in part to the shortcomings of teams around them as opposed to the sheer quality of The Blues' squad. You can't help but think Conte's favourite back-five wouldn't contain all three of Moses, Azpilicueta and Alonso, no matter how well they played this season. Pair that with an ageing squad player in Pedro and the liability that is Diego Costa, Chelsea's first eleven looks like it could do with some upgrading.

They've added no names so far but, if the rumour mill is to believed, and it rarely is, Monaco defensive midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko has chosen to come to west London instead of Manchester, a strange choice given the fact that Matic and Kanté make that Chelsea's strongest position.

A more sensible rumour, confirmed by Juventus president Giuseppe Marotta, is that the blues are looking at wing back Alex Sandro but have had a "good" offer rejected. The Brazilian left-back, formerly of Porto, is very strong defending and going forward but Juve are "not willing to sell any of their best players", watch this space.

With Costa likely to be on his way out and Michy Batshuayi having made very little impact in his first season in the Premier League, it seems that a striker is in order. Rumours abound that Chelsea are attempting hijack Man United's slow-moving efforts to bring Alvaro Morata to Old Trafford. Whether this is a realistic possibility or a rumour born out of the fact that it would simply make sense remains to be seen. Then of course there is former Blues' forward Romelu Lukakau. With the Belgian looking ever more unsettled at Everton and Chelsea keen to bring him back to Stamford Bridge, it looks like Chelsea will once again pay the price of their loan merry-go-round.

The one position which seems not have featured in the major gossip columns, aside from Courtois' role as keeper, is that of winger. Strange seeing as Pedro, one month away from 30, can't be counted on forever and Eden Hazard, as always, is the subject of a lot of speculation regarding Real Madrid. This absence might be because of there being very few quality 'true' wingers on the market. With five goals and ten assists in the league last season, I can't help but thinking Italian Domenico Berardi, currently at Sassuolo, would be a good fit. Lo and behold, on Thursday Sassuolo director Giovanni Carnevali confirmed that they had received an offer from a foreign team. That one looks like it could really happen.

Finally, speaking of Thibaut Courtois, it looks like he'll have some back up soon in the shape of Willy Caballero, after Asmir Begovic finally realised he was too good to sit on the bench. Argentine Caballero proved this season that he was a more than able deputy during Claudio Bravo's annus horribilis at City and he is now out of contract.

Next Season's Prediction:
2nd. With the exception of last season, it's always hard to look past the champions as winners of the following season. Having said that, with several small problems lurking round Stamford Bridge at the moment, and the fact that Pep will really be getting into his stride next season, I've got a small feeling that the Premier League trophy will be moving home for the ninth season in a row next May. As already mentioned, The Blues' squad needs some work. With a lot of other Premier League high-flyers in full transfer flow, Chelsea need to get going, quickly.