How Chelsea’s £580m starting XI of instant top four challengers could look next season

Mauricio Pochettino is inheriting two things at Chelsea – on the one hand, and let’s be blunt, a complete mess. On the other, a whole lot of options. Because while there are several areas of the pitch that Chelsea need to sort out, they do at least have a squad that can be set up to play in more or less any way that the Argentine coach wants.

With their genuine depth at centre-back, do they default to 3-4-3 and lean on their wing-backs for the width? Do they stick with 4-3-3 despite the likely departure of Mason Mount? The likely forlorn attempt to sign Manuel Ugarte – and the departure of N’Golo Kanté – suggests that that’s the plan for now, but perhaps Pochettino sees things differently. There is a long summer ahead, a lot of players leaving, and a lot of room to send the squad in any direction the new head coach wants.

With quite a few players rumoured to be on their way to Stamford Bridge as well as out of the exit door, let’s take a look at how Chelsea could well line up next season – and we’ve decided to stick to 4-3-3 and see what options they could have in the middle of the park. The team would come to a total cost of a cool £580m, based on what Chelsea have paid, what their veterans are thought to be worth according to market valuations, and what the rumour mill says they’ll fork out for new signings. Would this starting eleven see Chelsea challenge for European football again? Or would the rot set in for the long haul?

GK: André Onana - £40m

The reports that Chelsea are in the market for Inter Milan goalkeeper Onana have always felt slightly strange, given not just the improved performances of Kepa Arrizabalaga but also the fact that Champions League-winning stopper Edouard Mendy remains on the books, even if he did lose his place after the mid-season shoulder injury that sidelined him for a couple of months.

Nevertheless, the rumour mill is insistent that they’re in the market for a new ‘keeper, and is equally confident that Onana is their man. Whether he’d be happy to trade playing for a Champions League finalist for a team without European football of any kind is open to debate, but money does have a habit of ironing those sort of concerns out a little…

LB: Ben Chilwell - £30m

One part of the field where Chelsea probably won’t spend too much cash is in defence – and Chilwell means that the left side of the backline is pretty much sorted for the next couple of years, whether they want him to press up the field as a full-blown wing-back or to play in a back four.

Given the expensive struggles of Marc Cucurella this past season, it’s possible that Chelsea look for a new back-up to the former Leicester City man, but there’s little question that Chilwell will continue to line-up on the left flank for the foreseeable future.

CB: Thiago Silva - £2m

He may have reached the point where he’s asking his accountant for pension advice, and there may be a slew of young pretenders ready to claim a spot in the centre of Chelsea’s defence, but Thiago Silva remains the reliable and redoubtable heart of the defensive set-up, and that doesn’t seem liable to change over the summer.

He has one more year left to run on his contract and the Brazilian has made it clear that he doesn’t see himself leaving – and his experience and unquestionable class make it likely that he’ll see plenty of time on the field, no matter how good Levi Colwill might be.

CB: Wesley Fofana - £75m

The wildly expensive young defender was signed at the cost of roughly half of Leicestershire (for any American readers, this converts to approximately one month’s worth of basic medication) and will have a lot to prove under a new regime at Stamford Bridge.

Whether Chelsea play two or three at the back, there will be no shortage of competition for a starting spot, but you don’t spend that kind of cash without intending for the player in question to be one of your linchpins for years to come. Or perhaps you do if you’re Todd Boehly. Who knows?

RB: Reece James - £60m

If there’s one position that Chelsea will not need to worry about for a very long time, it’s right-back. Reece James is one of the very best in the world and his all-round excellence means that he is just about the only player in the team that is truly irreplaceable.

On the other hand, there were some very flaky rumours floating around that Real Madrid might make a bid at some point… That really would spoil a lot of summers in west London, but we think it’s unlikely. For now.

CM: Enzo Fernández - £105m

Just about the only current Chelsea midfielder whose place is completely guaranteed for the coming season. Practically every other Chelsea player who could compete for his position is either gone or going, and while he hasn’t necessarily lived up to his colossal price tag just yet (who could?), he was still one of the club’s better players for the second half of last season. A low bar, admittedly.

One of the good things about the Argentinian is that he’ll work out just fine whether Chelsea go for a midfield two or three for the coming campaign, and he guarantees at least a certain standard at the heart of the park. Could do with a bit more going on around him, of course. Speaking of which…

CM: Moisés Caicedo - £80m

There are plenty of teams in the market for the Ecuadorian, and with Chelsea likely to lose out on Manuel Ugarte and Declan Rice, we’re saying that they’ll throw the kitchen sink at signing Brighton’s midfield engine. That could be an extremely expensive kitchen sink, with £80m probably on the conservative end of the estimates, but the real price hit would likely be in the wages if they want to persuade him not to join a side like Arsenal.

He isn’t a classical holding player in the mould of Ugarte, which may not make him the ideal signing for Chelsea – they would prefer a player who could free Fernández up a little more – but his quality is undeniable and he’ll still be very high up Chelsea’s shopping list. As he should be.

CM: Nicolò Barella - £60m

If Chelsea want to play with three in midfield – and assuming they do need to replace Mason Mount – then they’ll need to pick up a player who can link the lines and provide a goal threat behind the forward line.

We’re going to back ourselves after we claimed that Barella is exactly the player Chelsea need just the other day – and while the rumour mill has put up any number of guesses as to his price tag, £60m splits the differences fairly neatly. Another Inter player who may need some persuading to leave the Champions League behind for a season – by which we mean his wages would have to be enormous – but a player who could make a massive difference, and who has been on Chelsea’s radar before.

LW: Raheem Sterling - £50m

It wasn’t the ideal first season at Stamford Bridge for the England wide forward, but anyone who thinks he hasn’t got the quality and mentality to come back bigger and better hasn’t been paying attention to the rest of his career.

Sterling still has all of the qualities that made him Gareth Southgate’s go-to man for so long, and now has the experience to match his immense natural talent. A fine player who’s far more likely to come good then stay at the bottom of a downward curve.

RW: Noni Madueke - £30m

Of the legion of wide forwards that Chelsea signed last season, Madueke has arguably the most long-term promise. He increasingly made the right-forward position his own towards the end of the season and while he’ll need to start getting some goal returns to justify the faith that Frank Lampard showed in him, there was enough on display to stir a little excitement for next season.

He won’t play every game – the need to keep so many widemen happy precludes anyone from being a nailed-on starter – but Madueke has talent to burn and offers a direct threat that Chelsea need to nurture.

CF: Christopher Nkunku - £50m

Chelsea signing a centre-forward from RB Leipzig who’s used to running the channels as part of a front two but will now be asked to plough a lone furrow up front? Stop me if you’ve heard this one before…

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It didn’t work out for Timo Werner, but Nkunku seems to be cut from a different cloth. His transfer is already set in stone and he’ll have a lot of pressure on his head next season, as he’ll be expected to be the primary source of goals in a team that has sorely lacked them. Romelu Lukaku is unlikely to stay, Kai Havertz seems to be on his way out, and Nkunku will be leant on hard – but he has unquestionable quality and could be just the man Chelsea need to take them forward. If he isn’t? It could be another long season…