Revealed: The position Chelsea will target in January transfer window

Robin Bairner

• 16 Dec 2021 15:12 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea have made a promising start to the season, positioning themselves third in the Premier League and are safely through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

Thomas Tuchel’s side, however, have not had a flawless first half of the campaign and are presently in a difficult period of form.

Although they have a squad bristling with talent, the manager has admitted that he could be tempted into the transfer market this January.

Injuries have played their part in Chelsea’s recent struggles and they have suffered one major long-term blow that the German could seek to cover.

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Tuchel will consider January move

England left-back Ben Chilwell faces a long period on the sidelines because of a serious knee injury, and it is in that position that Chelsea could be tempted into the market.

“First we must be sure what we do with Ben,” Tuchel said at a press conference ahead of Chelsea’s fixture against Everton.

“Then we decide if we go for internal solutions and if we trust that we can overcome this period.

“Everything depends on Ben Chilwell and how long he is out. Then on the alternatives, if there is something to do, if there is a chance to do something.

“But we did not start this process because we want to protect ourselves and not lose focus on the most important things. The most important things right now are Ben and Marcos. From there we go.”

Chelsea face further headaches ahead of the midweek match with Everton, with Goal revealing that three prominent Blues first-team players will miss the match after testing positive for Covid-19. Mateo Kovacic had previously tested positive for the virus ahead of the weekend’s win over Leeds.

Tuchel will hope that is a short-term headache for him to tackle, but the Chilwell issue is one that might only be resolved by movement in the transfer window.