With the January transfer window closed, Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea side can turn full focus to a busy six months ahead, in which they will target a Champions League return, as well as cup success on three fronts.
Speaking on Monday night, following the 2-1 victory over West Ham at Stamford Bridge, Maresca admitted his relief at finally having clarity over the group of players he will see the season through with, following a busy month of exit talk.
However, while that is the case as far as the Blues’s Premier League, FA Cup and Conference League campaigns are concerned, in may not be quite so when it comes to the inaugural Club World Cup, to be played in the USA in June and July.
Here’s what you need to know...
A third transfer window
The transfer window is now closed and for English clubs is not due to reopen until June 12.
However, in order to give teams playing in the Club World Cup chance to strengthen at the end of a long domestic campaign but before that tournament begins, Fifa came up with a novel proposal last year.
The governing body is giving individual national associations - such as the FA - the option of opening an extra “exceptional” window between June 1-10, which would allow their respective clubs to make signings earlier in the summer.
Fifa stressed, however, that “no member association is obliged to establish such an exceptional additional registration period”.
The Italian FA has already confirmed that Serie A representatives Juventus and Inter Milan will be given this new window, but the English equivalent are yet to announce whether they will do likewise for Manchester City and Chelsea.
Expired contracts and a fourth transfer window
And the fun does not even stop there. The Club World Cup is due to start on June 15 and run until July 13, meaning it overlaps with what is traditionally the point at which one European club season transitions into the next.
Most players have contracts written until the end of June, creating the potential for some to suddenly be left out of work midway through the tournament. There were similar complications during the Covid pandemic, when the paused 2019/20 season had to be completed during the late summer months and some players agreed short-term extensions.
Chelsea do not have any senior players out of contract this summer so are not in that position, but Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Scott Carson all have City deals that expire at the end of June.
To counter the impact of such scenarios, Fifa have set up yet another transfer window of sorts in the middle of the tournament. Between June 27 and July 3, teams can add up to two extra players to their squad (such as free agents they have signed on July 1), as well as replace any players whose contracts have expired, so long as the total number of new additions does not exceed six.
There are some restrictions - players cannot play for more than one team during the tournament, for instance - but there is still plenty of potential for things to get messy.
What if, for example, Chelsea agreed a free agent deal with Leroy Sane, whose Bayern Munich contract expires at the end of June? Bayern are also in the World Cup and Fifa rules state that were Sane included in their final squad for the tournament, regardless of whether he played, he would be ineligible to feature for Chelsea even after they started paying his wages on July 1.
That may sound an unlikely scenario, but it could have played out with Kylian Mbappe, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid had the competition been played last summer.
In such cases, Fifa says it will hold hearings to decide which club a player should be registered to before the tournament begins.
Loan players may be ineligible
The third key question with relevance to Chelsea is about loan players. The Blues allowed five senior players to go out on six-month loan deals in January: Carney Chukwuemeka, Joao Felix, Axel Disasi, Ben Chilwell and Renato Veiga.
Though unconfirmed by the club, it is thought that several of those deals have been specifically written to end on June 1, rather than June 30, in order to ensure they are back at Chelsea in time for the World Cup if needed.
All five of those players spent the first half of the season at Chelsea, meaning they are not at risk of breaching Fifa’s “Three and Two Rule” which dictates that players can only register for three clubs, and play official matches for two, during any one season.
However, a player like American defender Caleb Wiley - who spent the first half of the season on loan at Strasbourg and has just joined Watford on another loan - would presumably be unable to feature for Chelsea, so long as he gets on the pitch at Vicarage Road.
