All change at Chelsea as new owner Todd Boehly takes control as chairman and of transfers - The Warm-Up

THURSDAY'S BIG STORIES A New Era Ad/> A busy week at Chelsea. Romelu Lukaku is heading back to Inter for a fraction of what Chelsea paid for him, accompanied by the sound of laughter and shrugging and people asking one another 'Worst transfer ever?' TransfersChelsea face battle to land Dembele — Paper Round3 HOURS AGO But Lukaku, though expensive, never managed to establish himself as crucial to Chelsea; indeed, that was part of the problem. So his absence isn't going to make too much difference.

The same cannot be said for this week's other departures, chairman Bruce Buck and director Marina Granovskaia, who have been working at Chelsea through most of the Roman Abramovich era. Buck had been chairman since all the way back in 2004, while Granovskaia became a club representative in 2010. Replacing them? Todd Boehly, and Todd Boehly.

And there could not be a more exciting moment for Chelsea's new owner to take his first steps into the wonderful world of the transfer market. The ideal situation for this kind of move — a man with no experience taking temporary charge of transfers at one of the world's biggest clubs — would be a slow January, one in which Chelsea have little business to do, and do that quietly. A contract renewal here, a youth prospect there.

But this summer? Chelsea's to-do list reads as follows: the goalkeeping is probably all right. Up front, Lukaku's departure only exacerbates the problem he was brought in to solve: Chelsea have lots of exciting attacking players but no dead-eyed finisher. The midfield doesn't require immediate patching, but N'Golo Kante and Jorginho are both in stick-or-twist territory, on the wise side of 30 and with just one year left on their contracts.