It has been a tumultuous year for Chelsea ever since former owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government in March.
What followed was major uncertainty over the club’s future and a protracted takeover saga that only ended on May 28 when the Todd Boehly-led consortium completed their purchase of the club.
This left them on the back-foot and behind the eight ball ahead of this season, with the previous Premier League campaign having finished a week earlier and leading to Chelsea losing both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers.
Thomas Tuchel has plenty of work to do in the final days of the summer transfer window
Yesterday’s dismal 3-0 defeat to Leeds highlighted multiple issues in the German’s squad
Leeds blew Chelsea away at Elland Road on Sunday to expose the Blues’ frailties
Boehly has heavily backed manager Thomas Tuchel in the market with the additions of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei this summer, but the club has also missed out on a whole host of targets.
After Sunday’s embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Leeds, Tuchel’s side have just four points from three games and are languishing in 12th place.
The lacklustre display at Elland Road showed there is plenty of work left to do in the transfer window, which closes at 11pm on September 1.
Here, Sportsmail takes a look at what Chelsea need to do in the desperate last few days of the transfer window …
Bring in a centre-back to free up Reece James
Some of the most dominant performances of Tuchel’s tenure at Stamford Bridge can be traced back to the beginning of the 2021-22 season when Reece James and Ben Chilwell were causing havoc from wing-back.
However, Chilwell’s season was cruelly ended by injury in November and Chelsea’s form tailed off, taking them from potential title challengers to a sude fighting to stay in the top four.
As the German sticks with his preferred three-at-the-back formation, James remains one of Tuchel’s most destructive attacking assets – the England international racked up nine assists and five goals in just 22 Premier League starts last season, predominantly from right-wing-back.
Chelsea have been heavily linked with a move for Leicester City centre-back Wesley Fofana (left) and want to free up Reece James (right)
However, in recent weeks, James has been forced to play at centre-back, as Chelsea aim to add pace to their experienced back three -…