Chelsea have already announced two new signings in the summer transfer window and the Blues are not showing any immediate signs of slowing down on that front.
Liam Delap was confirmed as a Chelsea player on Wednesday evening, with the England Under-21 striker signing a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge. football.london understands Delap chose the Blues over a number of other suitors because of Enzo Maresca’s style of play, the quality within the squad and the genuine belief the team can challenge for major honours in seasons to come.
Meanwhile, Chelsea also confirmed the signing of Dario Essugo earlier in the week. It is one we have known about for a while, with the 20-year-old midfielder set to join the squad for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.
The west Londoners are looking to add quality to Maresca’s squad so the club can build on an extremely promising debut season for the Italian in the Chelsea dugout. The Blues have space in their squad to add players ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, even more space now given Jadon Sancho has departed the club, and there are likely to be big changes before the new season gets underway in August.
Here, football.london takes a look at the current squad situation, what could be done to change that and how it may look once the summer transfer window has concluded.
Premier League clubs are permitted to name a 25-man squad in September, with an updated list of players named in February after the closure of the mid-season transfer window. Of those 25 players, at least eight them must be homegrown, so if clubs do not have enough homegrown players, the squad size is reduced accordingly.
As of February 2025, the Blues named a 20-man squad after a number of players leaving over the course of the January transfer window. Of those 20 players, nine of them were classed as homegrown. Sancho was one of the homegrown players, but he will be leaving the club at the end of his loan deal this month.
There could be numerous homegrown players on their way out of Stamford Bridge in the coming months. Trevoh Chalobah faces an uncertain future at the club despite impressing since being recalled from his loan spell at Crystal Palace back in January. football.london understands the Blues will listen to offers for Chalobah should they come their way.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, too, could be on his way out of the door. With just 13 Premier League appearances to his name over the 24/25 season, regular minutes have been difficult to come by for the former Leicester City man. With Chelsea set to strengthen in midfield even more, further down the pecking order Dewsbury-Hall will likely fall.
There are also doubts over the future of Benoit Badiashile. Sources close to Badiashile recently told football.london the defender is content at Stamford Bridge but a move this summer has not been ruled out, after making just 20 appearances in all competitions throughout the 2024/25 season. Badiashile remains content at Chelsea, however if an attractive offer was to present itself, it could tempt the former AS Monaco defender
Meanwhile, Badiashile’s countryman Christopher Nkunku is set to leave Chelsea this summer. Strongly linked with a departure in January, the Blues opted to keep hold of Nkunku for the remainder of the campaign. However, the 27-year-old forward endured another frustrating season at Chelsea and the club are open to offers for him this summer.
