Chelsea change January transfer tack as winter shopping list revealed

Stuart Telford

• 29 Dec 2023 12:16 CST
• 3 min read

Chelsea have spent more than £1 billion since Todd Boehly took charge of the club, but they need to be more wily in the upcoming January transfer window…

No team has paid more money for player transfers since American billionaire Boehly took charge of Chelsea in May 2022, with their spend in the three windows since reaching unprecedented levels.

But results have so far failed to reflect that outlay, and the Blues find themselves 10th at the halfway point of the Premier League season, marginally closer to the relegation fight than the race for Europe.

It is understood that Mauricio Pochettino retains the owners' faith, and he will be backed in January as he looks to plug gaps in his squad, but Chelsea simply cannot afford to spend the same as in previous windows due to FFP.

Nusa and Diomande, affordable targets

"[Chelsea] will not be as busy as last January, when they spent a world record £290million, with player sales now needed to balance the books," reports The Evening Standard's Nizaar Kinsella, who outlines that strikers Victor Osimhen, Ivan Toney and Viktor Gyokeres could be prohibitively expensive.

"Chelsea also admire Club Brugge winger Antonio Nusa, who could add goals and assists at a cheaper price from a wide position. A centre-back is also being looked at, with Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande admired…"

Nusa and Diomande could prove cost-friendly acquisitions. The former is valued at €11.3 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, the latter 14.1m.

But even at those relatively low valuations, Chelsea will need to sell to fund those deals whilst operating within UEFA's and the Premier League's financial regulations.

The report concludes that Ian Maatsen and Trevoh Chalobah are transfer listed, while Conor Gallagher and Noni Madueke would be sold for the right price.