Chelsea have already reached out for discussions with the representatives of Juventus sensation Kenan Yildiz, with Enzo Maresca hatching a new tactical plan involving Cole Palmer.
The west Londoners have lost three out of their last five Premier League games and narrowly escaped with a thrilling 4-3 win away to bottom side Wolves in the Carabao Cup earlier this week.
Despite spending nearly £300 million in the summer transfer window, there is clearly still work to be done from Chelsea's perspective, and reports suggest that Juventus are even taking an interest in Maresca ahead of next summer.
The Old Lady appointed Luciano Spalletti on an interim basis until the end of the season, but if that doesn't work out and Maresca fails to turn the tide at Stamford Bridge, a move to Juve could be on the cards in 2026.
enzo-maresca-chelsea-premier-league
In the meantime, Chelsea's manager is surely tasked with finishing in the top four at the very least, and preferably adding more silverware to the club's trophy cabinet after their Conference League and Club World Cup triumphs earlier this year.
According to some reports, Maresca is still quite unhappy with the options he has at Chelsea right now, so January could be a key month despite heavy summer backing in the market.
"Maresca is not content with the squad he’s got and was far from behind a lot of the recruitment we did this summer and feels his squad still lacks a lot of key elements in some positions," wrote journalist Simon Phillips, via his Substack, in September.
"SPTC sources have heard that there is definite tension between Maresca and the board.
"We’ve also heard of some tensions between Maresca and Bernardo Cueva, the Technical Analyst at Chelsea. But we aren’t sure at the moment exactly why or how bad. But we know the Chelsea owners and SD’s respect Cueva and have no plans to move him on."
The most obvious area Chelsea are short in is centre-back, with ex-midfielder John Obi-Mikel claiming that the Blues will get nowhere near a Premier League title boasting that backline.
"We just don’t have good enough defenders. We don’t have good enough defenders," said Mikel on his Obi-One podcast.
“The defenders that we have right now, the centre-backs that we have right now, we can’t win the Premier League with those centre-backs. We can’t win the Premier League.”
Ahead of the winter window's opening, reports suggest that Chelsea are prioritising a new centre-back, with Levi Colwill expected to be out until spring 2026 after rupturing his ACL in pre-season.
However, they could also land a new forward, and have been linked with Yildiz as a serious option.
Chelsea make "very exciting" Yildiz offer amid Cole Palmer plan
Fabrizio Romano says that Chelsea "really like" the Turkey international who's dazzled as Juve's star attacker since the beginning of last season.
Juventus' Kenan Yildiz celebrates
Yildiz racked up 12 goals and nine assists in all competitions across 2024/2025, finishing the campaign as their best-performing regular with over 10 starts, going by average match rating per 90 minutes (WhoScored).
The 20-year-old also made more key passes per 90 and completed more take-ons in the final third than any of his teammates, with Yildiz starting 25/26 in equally imperious fashion.
Kenan Yildiz's best Serie A games for Juventus this season Match Rating
Juventus 2-0 Parma Calcio 8.88
Juventus 4-3 Inter Milan 8.51
Juventus 3-1 Udinese 7.55
Atalanta 1-1 Juventus 7.10
Genoa 0-1 Juventus 7.04
via WhoScored
He has seven goal contributions in 12 appearances already this term, attracting serious interest from Stamford Bridge.
According to TEAMtalk, Chelsea have "discreetly" reached out to Yildiz's camp with a "very exciting" offer to join them, and Italian insiders are adamant that Maresca's side are in pole position to land him.
This comes as Maresca hatches a plan to partner the young Turk with Palmer up front, as Chelsea see him as the "ideal" player to link up with their England superstar.
However, there are major obstacles to overcome in this would-be transfer — mainly Juve's minimum demand of around £79 million — with Real Madrid also in the race.
Los Blancos are described as a "major threat" to Chelsea in pursuit of Yildiz, and the player is apparently very enticed by Xabi Alonso's side as a possible destination.
There is also the matter of Juve apparently stepping up new contract talks to keep him out of rival clutches, so Chelsea could have to launch the kitchen sink if this move has any chance of happening.
Chelsea have been offered another Juventus star too