Chelsea's Club World Cup campaign kicks off this evening and thus all the focus for Enzo Maresca will be on their Group D opener against LAFC.
The Blues have confirmed Liam Delap, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr as new signings with all three set to feature in the tournament. Concrete attempts were also made for Jamie Gittens and Mike Maignan of Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan, respectively, but no agreements were reached.
Interest in both looks set to remain however with Jadon Sancho returning to Manchester United and Djorde Petrovic asking to be left out of the squad in order to focus on sealing a move away.
Carney Chukwuemeka, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Armando Broja and Joao Felix were others contracted to the club that have been left out after loan moves elsewhere with the expectation being that all four will depart. With that being said, football.london takes a look at the latest Chelsea transfer news.
Chukwuemeka axed
With Chelsea confirming that Andrey Santos will wear the No.17 for their Club World Cup campaign, a permanent exit looks to be on the cards for Chukwuemeka.
As the holder of that shirt number, the former Aston Villa star seems to be up for sale following a mixed six-month spell at Dortmund.
Following his own temporary spell at Strasbourg, Santos is set for a prominent role with hope his Chelsea career can finally explode following an £18million move from Vasco da Gama back in January 2023.
football.london says: Ever since the arrival of Maresca as the club's head coach, Chukwuemeka has not really been offered the chance to impress.
With questions frequently arriving on him during his first few months, his replies seemingly made it clear that he did not really think he had a role to play and that has been further proven by the latest decision. £20million was paid for his services and it's fair to say nothing close to that will be recouped.
Not all of the blame for his shortcomings fall at the club or Maresca's feet however, with the Blues having an abundance of options in his favoured position and his cameos hardly awe-inspiring.
Maresca private feelings
The Club World Cup is not really being taken too seriously by football fans in Europe but for the teams involved that have a chance of winning, it is a huge opportunity.
According to the Mail, that is exactly what Maresca has been trying to get across to his players in private. Their report claims he has been making it clear how exciting it is to be involved in something new and potentially be history-makers as the first team to win it.
football.london says: At the end of the day, it is still competitive football and therefore it is not exactly surprising Maresca wants to win.
The huge prize money on offer is another incentive with the champions able to bank up to £97million. Chelsea's first proper test is unlikely to really arrive until the last-16 with Maresca's side clear favourites to beat LAFC, Flamengo and Esperance.
Perhaps the only concern is the potential interruptions for the new campaign with Chelsea's pre-season plans heavily altered.
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Club World Cup on DAZN
Watch the Club World Cup free on DAZN
The FIFA Club World Cup will see 32 of the world's best club teams including Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG andBayern Munich play across 63 games from June 14-July 13.
Fans can watch every match live and for free by signing up to DAZN.