Chelsea’s transfer window in chaos: With Romelu Lukaku off to Manchester United, who will bolster the line-up of the reigning champions?

  • Chelsea are facing a battle to get their transfer plans back on tracks 
  • The Blues have lost out to Manchester United on the signing of Romelu Lukaku
  • Diego Costa has been told he is not needed so the club must find a striker
  • Sportsmail examine what could come next for the reigning champions 

Chelsea are facing a summer transfer window nightmare after Romelu Lukaku was snatched from under their noses by Manchester United.

The Premier League champions now face scrambling for a striker, with Diego Costa told he is not needed and Antonio Conte’s No 1 target heading elsewhere. There are also issues with the move for Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco stalling and only former Manchester City back-up goalkeeper Willy Caballero has arrived so far.

As it stands, Chelsea could end up facing a Premier League title defence without a proven goalscorer and with other key targets still yet to be secured. Their plans are in tatters.


Here, Sportsmail looks at where it’s gone wrong for the Blues and where they look next.

Chelsea are facing a summer transfer window nightmare and need to turn things around

Chelsea are facing a summer transfer window nightmare and need to turn things around

The Blues have lost out to Manchester United in signing Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku

The Blues have lost out to Manchester United in signing Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku

 

How have they managed to miss out on Lukaku?

Chelsea thought they had Lukaku’s signing in the bag before United stepped in to hijack a deal for the most-proven Premier League goalscorer on the market.

Conte and Lukaku have been in regular contact this summer, with the Everton striker reassured he was Chelsea’s No 1 target as they looked to push a move through.

Former boss Jose Mourinho looks to have thwarted the move to bring Lukaku back to London

Former boss Jose Mourinho looks to have thwarted the move to bring Lukaku back to London

But although it seemed the player was keen on coming back to Stamford Bridge, Everton wouldn’t play ball and Chelsea initially baulked at a price tag north of the £60m mark. They did not expect United to make a serious move.

Now, the Premier League champions have been caught on the hop. They failed to close a deal, letting United take the initiative.

Despite murmurs from London that they still believed Lukaku could wind up in blue, all indications now point to a move to United and Chelsea scrambling for an alternative.

 

So what about Bakayoko?

Chelsea are facing further embarrassment with the proposed £35m move for Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, which looked all-but done a week ago, stalling.

Monaco are losing patience in a summer where Europe’s big guns are swarming all over their top talents and Chelsea have been slow in moving while they wait to offload Nemanja Matic.

Their Serbian midfielder, a cornerstone of two title triumphs in three seasons, is wanted by United but the fall-out of the Lukaku saga means that deal may fall dead and further waylay Chelsea’s plans.

A £35m move for Tiemoue Bakayoko looked all but done a week ago, but is now uncertain

A £35m move for Tiemoue Bakayoko looked all but done a week ago, but is now uncertain

They have been unable to agree a contract with Matic, who wants to move to Old Trafford, and have no other suitors who would realistically match the £40m fee that they could have got from United.

In the meantime, the Bakayoko deal is left in limbo. Conte studied the 22-year-old regularly last season and identifying him as an ideal fit in the midfield he wants to defend the domestic title and push on in the Champions League.

But Monaco do not necessarily need to sell, having let Bernardo Silva go to Manchester City for £43m, and Chelsea will be wary of further pushing their patience.

 

So who do they go for now?

Chelsea’s two clear striking options beyond Lukaku are Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata and Andrea Belotti, of Torino. Neither forward offers the Premier League-proven status of Lukaku, and both are likely to be in a similar price range.

Conte is a fan of Morata and sought to sign him last summer but Chelsea viewed Lukaku as a better option with Real looking for a transfer fee of over £70m.

Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata is an option for Chelsea but is unproven in the Premier League

Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata is an option for Chelsea but is unproven in the Premier League

Belotti, meanwhile, is at a club who have made it clear they have no intention to sell unless his £87m release clause is triggered.

The Italian No 9 scored 28 goals in Italy last season but his differing style of play would require a re-think for Conte, who re-assembles his squad for the first day of pre-season training at their Cobham base on Monday.

Chelsea also have an interest in Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.

Sanchez would happily move across London but Chelsea’s rivals are adamant they will not sell to a Premier League competitor. Lewandowski and his agent have made whispers about his unhappiness with the German champions but the reality is he will not be leaving this summer.

Torino's free-scoring Andrea Belotti is a tempting proposition, but would cost big money

Torino's free-scoring Andrea Belotti is a tempting proposition, but would cost big money

 

Is Conte angry with the way things are going?

It has been a hugely frustrating summer for Chelsea’s title-winning manager already. Conte was wound up with a lack of progress on his transfer targets at the end of last month and the latest Lukaku news will only sour that mood.

The Italian has voiced his frustrations to director and key negotiator Marina Granovskaia and expected the issues to be ironed out – but the Lukaku situation is not a good indicator of progress.

Chelsea have only signed former City back-up goalkeeper Caballero so far and reports in Conte’s native Italy claim he is fuming about the inactivity.

The fall-out with Diego Costa, who has been told he will be moved on this summer – via a text message sent by his manager – has not helped the situation either.

 

Is there any chance Costa could stay now?

Chelsea looked to have burned their bridges with the fiery Spain forward when Conte texted him to say: ‘Good luck for next year but you are not in my plans,’ and Costa is hoping to return to Atletico Madrid.

Diego Simeone is preparing to make a move but Atletico have been unwilling to pay more than £20m for the 28-year-old. Chelsea want much more but their negotiating position is dire with Conte’s unofficial text potentially costing them millions.

Chelsea look to have burned their bridges with Diego Costa after Conte sent him a message 

Chelsea look to have burned their bridges with Diego Costa after Conte sent him a message 

Conte would have preferred not to have Costa around for the start of first-team training on Monday. As it stands, he will be back at Cobham with no transfer imminent. Whether he stays for the season is another question.

Costa’s time at Stamford Bridge looks to be finished but, although such a move is unlikely, Chelsea could even be forced into a complete U-turn if their front-line recruitment fails.

Eden Hazard will miss the start of the season through injury and the Blues would not want to start a new campaign with a front three of Willian, Pedro and Michy Batshuayi their only real option.

 

What about Sandro and the others?

Juventus left back Alex Sandro is still a £61m target but there is work to do on convincing the Brazilian to push through a move to the Premier League.

Sandro would like to go to Chelsea but is yet to tell Juve he wants out and unless he is desperate to leave the Italian champions do not consider themselves keen to sell.

Juventus left back Alex Sandro is still a £61m target but there is still work to do to convince him

Juventus left back Alex Sandro is still a £61m target but there is still work to do to convince him

Centre back Antonio Rudiger is ready to join from Roma in a £34m deal – he is a willing mover after experiencing problems with racism in Italy.

Leonardo Bonucci and Virgil van Dijk are targets, too, but Conte has been frustrated in those pursuits so far.

Man City appear to have won the race for Dani Alves, another Chelsea target.

 

Who is leaving Stamford Bridge?

John Terry, Nathan Ake, Asmir Begovic and Bertrand Traore are the biggest names who have headed out of the revolving door at Stamford Bridge already.

Matic and Costa could follow, while Chelsea are already working on the usual raft of loanees leaving on a temporary basis this summer – with an entirely separate squad training together away from the first team and academy at Cobham.

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.