Chelsea’s new manager has six stars to build around after £275m transfer flurry

While Chelsea are searching for a new head coach, the person to replace Liam Rosenior will have a core group of players to build the team around

In the space of a two-year period, Chelsea looked to build a core within their squad to match BlueCo’s lofty ambitions.

The Blues have helped produced some fabulous talent from their academy system in recent years. A lot of whom they have let go elsewhere – see Marc Guehi, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento and Michael Olise, for example. A couple, though, stayed and are integral to the club’s long-term plans.

Reece James is captain of Chelsea and recently extended his contract, keeping him with his boyhood club until 2032. The 26-year-old England international held various meetings with senior figures at Stamford Bridge before committing his future and is understood to be encouraged and excited by the club’s plans going forward.

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Levi Colwill, another one to come off Cobham’s conveyor belt of talent, is said to be happy at the club as he continues his recovery from a long-term anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Colwill suffered the horrific injury back in August of last year and while he is closing in on a return to competitive action, the club are prepared to keep being patient when it comes to re-introducing him.

The 23-year-old central defender remains central to BlueCo’s long-term plans. Sources told football.london in January that bringing a new centre-back to the club is a priority in the upcoming summer transfer window. However, whoever does arrive, will come in with the plan of partnering Colwill next season and beyond.

James and Colwill did not cost Chelsea a penny in transfer fees and are two of the six core players in the squad at the time of writing. The others, though, cost Chelsea a combined £275.5million (after add-ons) in the space of a two-year period.

Firstly, Cole Palmer came in from Manchester City. The now 23-year-old arrived with a point to prove for £42.5m and a point was certainly proved. Palmer’s form, however, has been sub-par this season and whoever comes in to replace the now-departed Liam Rosenior has a big job on their hands to get the best out of the England international, who – without doubt – is one of the Premier League’s finest when playing at his absolute best.

Whether that is solely down to his fitness woes this season – with Palmer nursing a complex groin issue for the majority of the campaign – is hard to measure. Regardless, the 2026/27 season, from Chelsea’s point of view, needs to see Palmer returning to his very best.

Moises Caicedo followed Palmer through the door at Stamford Bridge later on in the same transfer window. Signed for – what was at the time, a British transfer record – £115m, the Ecuadorian got off to a slow start at Chelsea. It was not long, though, before supporters started to see why the Blues fought so hard, and spent so much money, to bring the midfielder in from Brighton.

Caicedo’s form in 2026 is a bit of a concern. He has been far from his best in recent matches, but he is not the only one. While there is right to be some concern with how he has been playing recently, there is not much doubt about his talent and significance to the squad.

Chelsea were enormously boosted when Caicedo, after a turbulent couple of weeks off the pitch following Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella’s comments where they flirted with an exit from the west London club, signed a contract extension. The 24-year-old committed his future to the Blues, penning a deal until 2033 with lucrative terms included.

Caicedo is one of the world’s best in his position – don’t let a poor run of form cloud your judgement – and Chelsea know that. However, who partners him in midfield remains up for debate. Romeo Lavia is rated highly at the club, though constant injury problems have cast doubt over whether he will be the long-term partner for Caicedo in midfield.

Dario Essugo has potential but remains quite raw, Andrey Santos has impressed at times this season, while Fernandez continues to be linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge after casting doubt on his future during last month’s international break. There are whispers Chelsea no longer view Fernandez as ‘untouchable’ following his bombshell comments, that led to a two-game internal suspension.

Estevao Willian belongs in the aforementioned core group as well. It has been, overall, a strong debut season, though the second half of it has been plagued with injuries, particularly hamstring problems. The Brazil international’s latest problem is a grade four hamstring injury, football.london understands, which puts his World Cup hopes in doubt, though not out of the question just yet.

Either way, Estevao is unlikely to kick a ball again for Chelsea this season. The teenage winger has shown during his short time at Stamford Bridge that he has the potential to kick on and become a world-beater and that is why he remains integral to the club’s vision in the long run.

Chelsea tried to manage Estevao’s minutes this season and have held him back at times where supporters have wanted to see him. Despite this, it has been an injury-ridden 2026 thus far for the former Palmeiras wide man. Next season, he will be hoping to put these muscular problems behind him and find a new gear under whoever the new head coach is.

Estevao’s compatriot, and close friend, Joao Pedro arrived last summer as well. Signed from Brighton in early July for a £60m package, the Brazil international completed the move in time to represent the Blues in the latter stages of the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States – and he started his Chelsea career with a bang.

Joao Pedro scored three goals in the semi-final and final to help his new club in being crowned champions of the world. The 24-year-old versatile forward, who has predominantly played as a No.9 under both Enzo Maresca and Rosenior, has scored 19 goals in all competitions.

Such form has seen him quickly become one of the Premier League’s best strikers. Already this season, he has played 50 times for club and country; so it is no surprise he is currently unavailable due to a minor thigh injury. Those sort of minutes on the pitch catch up to you.

Chelsea need to address that and sign a No.9 who is able to compete with Joao Pedro. Liam Delap was supposed to be just that, but things have not worked out for the former Ipswich Town forward since signing for £30m last summer. Marc Guiu has barely got any minutes this season and while Emanuel Emegha will arrive from Strasbourg in the upcoming summer transfer window, it remains to be seen whether he is ready for such a role in the squad.

While there is so much uncertainty behind the scenes at Cobham right now, what Chelsea have got is a core group of players the club need to be building around in the long-term future. Any transfer decisions this summer should be made with that in the forefront of the five-strong group of sporting directors’ minds. Elsewhere, there are question marks.