After their worst season in nearly 30 years, Chelsea have never had a more critical summer in terms of transfer business.
Departures are likely to prove as crucial as new signings and there has been plenty of movement in both directions, with expectation that the bulk of the activity is still to come.
The PA news agency looks at what has been done and what to expect ahead of Mauricio Pochettino’s first season in charge.
How urgent is it all?Very. Chelsea have a bloated first-team squad following owner Todd Boehly’s scattergun first 12 months at the helm, with more than £600million spent on transfers.
Successive managers in Graham Potter and Frank Lampard admitted to finding the job of accommodating so many players an almost unworkable challenge, and since January there has been little consistency in team selection or shape, with cohesion amongst the squad lacking.
There is also the matter of satisfying Financial Fair Play rules. With sky-high outgoings and no income from European football, something has to be done to balance the books, ideally before the June 30 deadline for keeping everything on last season’s accounts.
Who’s on the way in?Christopher Nkunku has joined from RB Leipzig for £53m after a pre-contract agreement was reached in January for the France international.
With the team having recorded their lowest goal tally in almost a century last campaign, more attacking arrivals are necessary, and a deal for Villarreal’s Nicolas Jackson has reportedly been struck.
Moise Caicedo of Brighton is a long-term target but no bid has been made since the Seagulls rebuffed Chelsea’s repeated overtures in January.
Who has already left?So far the departures have been predictable ones, with N’Golo Kante leaving for Al-Ittihad and Kalidou Koulibaly joining Al-Hilal, both in the Saudi Arabia Professional League.
Kante had looked close to agreeing a new contract at Stamford Bridge last season but talks had long since broken down by the time he accepted a reported £86m-a-year offer to become the latest star name to swap a major European club for the Gulf.
Defender Koulibaly was in and out of the team during his one season in blue, and with manager Pochettino well stocked in central defence he has left the club less than 12 months after joining from Napoli.
Who will be next?Deals have been agreed for forward Hakim Ziyech and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to join their former team-mates in Saudi Arabia for £8m and £16m respectively.
Ziyech has been eager to depart since a deadline-day move to Paris St Germain fell through in January, after Chelsea failed to submit the correct paperwork in time.
Despite a strong first two seasons in west London, Mendy has lost his place as first-choice keeper to Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Kai Havertz is on the verge of joining Arsenal in a reported £65m deal, with an announcement expected this week, while Mateo Kovacic will join Manchester City after the clubs agreed a £30m fee for the Croatia international.
Who else is surplus to requirements?Striker Romelu Lukaku is eager to rerun to Inter where he spent last season on loan, though Chelsea have reportedly been unwilling to agree to another temporary move as they seek a permanent transfer.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is another outcast to have been linked with the Saudi Pro League and is unlikely to have a future at Stamford Bridge, though it is thought he remains unconvinced about a move to the Gulf.
What about Mason Mount?As it stands, Manchester United have had three bids for the England midfielder rejected and are at the point of walking away from the deal to focus on other targets.
The 24-year-old rejected new terms last season but there is no offer on the table from the Blues, with his contract about to enter its final 12 months.
United reportedly believe an asking price of £65m is too high for a player who will be available on a free this time next year and can begin negotiating a pre-contract agreement with another club in January.
That leaves the player with three options: see out the final year of his deal, hold out to see if another bidder emerges, or ask Chelsea back to the negotiating table.
Man City's clash with Chelsea will decide WSL title, suggests Taylor
Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor did not understate the importance of his side’s upcoming visit to Chelsea as he described the clash as “more than just a game”.
City currently sit top of the Women’s Super League (WSL) one point above closest rivals Chelsea on 19 points. The defending champions hold a game in hand, however, after their match against Manchester United was postponed.
Both enter the match undefeated, with Chelsea earning six wins from six while Manchester City have six wins and one draw from seven matches, only taking a point away at Arsenal.
Taylor’s managerial adversary, Sonia Bompastor, will be aiming to become the first-ever coach to win each of their first seven games in the WSL.
With City unbeaten in their last three WSL meetings with Chelsea (W2 D1), Taylor is aware of the impact a positive result at Stamford Bridge could have on his title aspirations.
"It is more than just another game, of course. We have proven so far that we can play good stuff and have got good results along the way," he said in his press conference.
"We have been difficult to play against. There is no denying, these games are really important. For us, it is a good game and the fact it is Stamford Bridge gives us something different. We are looking forward to the challenge.
"It is a game that everyone is excited about."
It will be the first time the two teams have met at Chelsea’s iconic stadium. The Blues have won all six of their previous matches at Stamford Bridge in the WSL by an aggregate score of 17-4.
It is the most any team has ever played in the competition at a home venue while maintaining a 100% win record.
While City won this fixture at Kingsmeadow last year, earning a 1-0 victory over Chelsea through a Bunny Shaw goal, their opponents ultimately went on to claim the title on goal difference on the final day.
Yet when asked whether outcomes in games against Chelsea will decide the title, he said: "Everything would suggest that [it will]. It's too hard to say. They have made a good start, similar to us.
"I think for us we want to stay consistent, I think that's really important. The league table at the moment looks a little lopsided because they have a game to play and of course we want to make sure that we can give the best versions of ourselves in order to get the best result.
"I think that trying to win the game for us is the objective and it never changes.
"And we have a real good opportunity to do that, particularly with some of the performances that we have seen already this season and that for us is going to be our main goal in this game, to go to win."
There was positive injury news ahead of the clash as Taylor confirmed top scorer Shaw would be fit to start, though fans will face a nervy wait for top assister Lauren Hemp’s late fitness test to determine whether the England winger will be involved.
Haaland and Gyokeres 'not a priority' for Barcelona, says Deco
Barcelona sporting director Deco has said that a striker is “not a priority” for the club despite recent links to Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyokeres.
Deco affirmed the club’s faith in current number nine Robert Lewandowski, who is in form with 14 goals and two assists after 13 games in LaLiga this season.
Gyokeres, by comparison, has 16 goals and one assist in the Primeira Liga while, despite a dip in form, Erling Haaland has 12 goals in the Premier League this season.
Barcelona, however, are “happy” with Lewandowski and hope he will lead the line in the Catalonian capital for another season at least.
"First we have to know whether Haaland is what we want for the future. We don't know that now,” Deco told El Mundo Deportivo.
"At the moment we don't want any 'nine.' We have Robert. We are not planning anything with any 'nine.' It's not a priority because we have to focus on this season."
Lewandowski leads the Barcelona squad for shots (38) and shots on target (26) in the league, indicating the 36-year-old is still maintaining pace at the top level.
He leads the league for goals with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior coming closest to matching his tally, trailing by six goals.
"I think it's very difficult to find a striker like Robert nowadays. There are one or two of this level. Maybe Haaland or another one. There are not so many of this level available,” explained Deco.
"But we are not going to get hung up on finding any striker now because we are going to focus first on what Robert can do. I surely think he is happy to be here. He is a winner and if we have a big season I think he will want to stay.
"We want Robert to continue to be happy, to score goals and to stay at least one more season."
While the Pole is without a goal in two games, Barcelona’s rumoured target Gyokeres has not faltered.
The Swede caught global attention in Sporting CP’s recent Champions League clash with Manchester City, producing a hat-trick to help his team to a shock 4-1 win.
He accumulated an expected goals (xG) total of 2.41 in the match, accounting for most of Sporting's overall 2.87xG.
"Gyokeres is a good player. He has been scoring goals for some time in Portugal. We know him as we know others, but it's not a priority for us right now,” said Deco.
"When the time comes to make a decision and I have to make it because I am the one at the club, we will consider the options. But I don't think it's the right time to talk about any player."
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
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