Chelsea rebuild under new owners continues after arrival of Sterling and Koulibaly on way

The transformation of Chelsea under the club’s new ownership gathered pace on Thursday with two firm statements about their priorities. Cristiano Ronaldo, whose advisers had been in contact with the club following the veteran forward’s indication he wants to leave Manchester United, is not on Chelsea’s wishlist. High-calibre defensive reinforcements are.

As the squad prepared for their first match, this weekend’s friendly, against Club America, since the sanctioned Russian-born former owner Roman Abramovich relinquished control of Chelsea to a US-based consortium, the Senegal international centre-back, Kalidou Koulibaly, was undergoing a medical with a view to his transfer from Napoli.

Ronaldo’s camp were also told that, after more than one round of talks about the Portuguese’s future, Chelsea would not be pursuing any interest in the 37-year-old.

Both decisions were given the nod of approval by Thomas Tuchel, the Chelsea manager, while Tuchel was building his working relationship with Todd Boehly, the hands-on new chairman, and redefining his authority at a club where several long-serving executives have departed since the £4.25 billion sale of the club in May.

Tuchel had always intended this summer to be busy in the transfer market, but one effect of the sanctions against Abramovich, imposed by the UK government because of his perceived links to Russia following the military invasion of Ukraine, was to stall contact negotiations with several key players and slow down approaches to possible transfer targets.

But Chelsea’s activity in the market over the past two weeks, said Tuchel, had been “intense”. Its first significant yield has been the signing of Raheem Sterling from Manchester City for a fee of up to £50m. The