Irrespective of what happens during the final stages of the season and whether Chelsea do win a historic double, sources from the club have confirmed that they will be bringing in some fresh faces during the summer transfer window.  This, along with the confirmation from Carlo Ancelotti that he will be drafting four or five Academy players into the first team, means that Chelsea’s team may look quite a bit different from the current one come the start of the new season.  This article takes a look at some of these possible and probable arrivals and departures.

In defence

Chelsea have shown immense depth in defence where they have had to cope with many injuries over the past couple of seasons.  Despite filling in at right back as a result of injuries and suspensions, Paolo Ferreira may find himself surplus to requirements in the summer following a couple of seasons during which he was largely used as a squad player.  Another player in defence that will in all likelihood leave Stamford Bridge in the summer is Juliano Belletti, as his contract will expire at the end of the current season and he has expressed his desire to finish his career in Brazil.  Chelsea should be able to cope with these departures given their current defensive line-up of Terry, Carvalho, Alex, Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Zhirkov, and a fit-again Bosingwa.  There is not a need to buy new defenders, but Jeffrey Bruma, Sam Hutchinson, Patrick van Aanholt and Michael Mancienne can be expected to be given some more first team exposure in the coming season.

In midfield

As far as the midfield is concerned, it has been widely rumoured that Deco is seeking a return to Brazil where he wants to finish his career in his country of birth.  His wish may just be granted following a disappointing and inconsistent two seasons at Chelsea where he showed glimpses of what he can do, but never really got going.  It remains to be seen whether Michael Ballack and Joe Cole’s contracts will be renewed, and depending on this, Chelsea may need to strengthen somewhat in the midfield.  Chelsea should also start to think about the unthinkable – life without Frank Lampard.  He has had yet another magnificent season, scoring more than 20 goals for the fifth consecutive season, but he will be 32 next season and can’t be expected to carry scoring as many for much more than another 2-3 years.  A possible replacement for Lampard may be at the club already in Michael Essien.  He has mainly been used as a defensive midfielder during his time at Chelsea, but he is more than capable of playing more attacking football and scoring goals.  Again, Chelsea have some young midfielders coming through in Nemanja Matic and Scott Sinclair, but two possible transfer targets could include the 22-year-old duo of Marek Hamšík from Napoli and Angel di Maria from Benfica, depending on their clubs’ willingness to sell their star players.  Both of these players will almost definitely be linked to some of the biggest clubs in Europe, but at least one of them may just sign for Chelsea in the summer.

Upfront

In the striking department, Chelsea have two top-class strikers in Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, the 2008-09 and (possibly) the 2009-10 Premier League top scorers.  Despite their recent achievements and Drogba’s outstanding season currently, they are 31 and 32 respectively, and Chelsea should (as mentioned previously regarding Frank Lampard) look to the future without them scoring as many goals.  It seems that Chelsea are intent on signing a striker in the summer and has been linked continuously over the past couple of seasons with Sergio Agüero, who in turn has expressed the desire to learn from players like Lampard and Drogba.  Chelsea have also been linked with Alexandre Pato and Edin Džeko in recent weeks.  With all the speculation around Chelsea buying a new striker in the summer, it is very likely that at least one of these players will join Chelsea in the summer.  It can also be expected that Chelsea’s exciting youngsters Daniel Sturridge, Fabio Borini and wonder kid Gaël Kakuta will be given some more opportunity to stake claims for inclusion in the first team.

Overall, it seems that Chelsea will not lose many players nor will they have to buy a host of new players to strengthen their squad for next season.  In defence there will probably be a couple of departures and not any new arrivals with some of the younger players playing some more first team football.  In midfield there may be one or two new arrivals to strengthen an already strong midfield, depending on how many players will leave Chelsea.  Upfront, Chelsea will probably still have Drogba and Anelka, with a couple of young players expected to be phased into the team.  However, Chelsea seem to be looking for a big-name striker, which may yet see the arrival of one.  One should also keep in mind that this is World Cup year, and someone may impress so much during the tournament, that he is bought instead of the players and/or positions mentioned.