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Football Manager 2024 predicts how the January transfer window could play out for Chelsea.
Chelsea were one of the most active clubs in European football during the summer transfer window - and that fact will not surprise anyone as the Blues squad continues to undergo what feels like a never-ending development.
A total of 11 new signings arrived at Stamford Bridge as the Blues hierarchy opened the cheque book once again to land the likes of Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Pedro Neto and Leicester City midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
There were some signings that immediately sent out on loan and there will be hopes players such as goalkeeper Mike Penders and left-back Caleb Wiley can shine when they return to West London next summer. There were also some eye-catching departures from Chelsea during the summer with Ian Maatsen joining Premier League rivals Aston Villa, Romelu Lukaku finally making a permanent exit from the club after he agreed a move to Napoli and academy graduate Conor Gallagher joined La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.
It’s hard to assess what business Chelsea will conduct during the January transfer window as they look to build on what could be viewed as a positive first half of the season under new head coach Enzo Maresca. Given the number of players still contracted to the Blues, you would imagine departures could be a high priority - but there are sure to be some new faces because, well, because that’s what Chelsea do. Some are even calling for Reece James to be sold, amid his ongoing injury struggles.
And that got us thinking so we fired up Football Manager 2024, edited the Chelsea squad to its present form and allowed the world’s most popular managerial simulation to predict how the January transfer window could play out at Stamford Bridge.
Outgoings
Although we expected there to be a whole host of departures from Chelsea during this simulated transfer window, what played out was actually very different. Young goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom was first out of the door as he joined MLS since Toronto FC on a free transfer with days of the window opening for business.
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There were just two further departures as Ben Chilwell’s time as a Blue came to a close with a £17m move to Aston Villa and a further £19m was enough to persuade Chelsea to sell midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka to Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Other points of note for the window include the Blues rejecting a £42m offer for Levi Colwill from Newcastle United and Mykhaylo Mudryk rejected a move to Bayern Munich after the two clubs had agreed a £59m fee in the final days of the window.
Incomings
We felt there would be a number of new signings made during the January transfer window but the Chelsea squad was strengthened just one - although it did prove to be a big money addition as the Blues looked to resolve one of the major issues in their squad.
There was one other deal agreed as Chelsea landed Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies as he agreed to move to Stamford Bridge when his current deal comes to an end during the summer.
What happened next?
The Blues produced their best Premier League finish for a number of years by claiming second place - although to suggest they had challenged for the title would be a stretch after they ended the season 10 points behind champions Manchester City. Their hopes of lifting the FA Cup were ended by Arsenal in the semi-final but Maresca’s men did land the Europa Conference League after two Cole Palmer goals gave them a 2-1 win against Fiorentina in the final.
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