These are busy times at Stamford Bridge.

There will be signings too, with forward Christopher Nkunku already in the building and others rumoured to follow. And then there’s the main arrival – new manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Ahead of the Argentine officially starting work on 1 July, BBC Sport takes a look at the current state of play with the club as they look to put a dreadful season behind them and wheel out Boehly’s Blues 2.0.

Putting a strategy in place

What Chelsea cannot afford this season is a repeat of a chaotic 2022-23.

In finishing 12th, the Blues recorded their lowest Premier League finish since 1993-94 (14th), while their 16 defeats ranked as their most in a league campaign since that same rocky Glenn Hoddle-led campaign (17) almost 30 years ago.

Third-round exits from both domestic cups last term were followed by a quarter-final defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Chelsea went through four managers. Thomas Tuchel was sacked six games into the Premier League campaign and his expensive replacement Graham Potter departed less than seven months later, leading to a one-game interim period under Bruno Salter and finally the caretaker management of the returning Frank Lampard.

Potter was meant to be a long-term appointment, but 12 wins from 31 games, a lack of progress in performances and hostility from the stands ultimately cost him.

The turbulence speaks of a club either lacking or struggling to implement a clear plan – something also borne out in their transfer strategy.

American investor Boehly and consortium partners Clearlake splashed out around £600m to sign the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana in the summer of 2022 before adding eight more players to the squad in winter, including midfielder Enzo Fernandez for a British record £107m. Many of those who signed did so on unusually lengthy contracts.

In the short term it provided the Blues with a talented but huge and dysfunctional squad, vastly overloaded in some areas yet still somehow without a world-class number nine.

The early signs are that some lessons have been learned.

The squad stripping has already begun, with Mateo Kovacic joining Manchester City and Koulibaly,N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy moving to clubs in Saudi Arabia.

It has been suggested that others – such as winger Hakim Ziyech – will follow to the Middle Eastern country, while Kai Havertz has sealed a move to Arsenal, Mason Mount is set to join Manchester United and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is close to joining AC Milan. And then there’s the future of strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Romelu Lukaku to sort.

Feathers have been ruffled by some of this activity, with concern expressed in some quarters about whether there is Saudi involvement at Chelsea. There is uncertainty over whether PIF, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, holds a stake in Clearlake Capital, but club sources have rejected suggestions of any direct involvement.

Read more on BBC 

By Phil Dawkes/BBC Sport