Thomas Tuchel has already warned Todd Boehly of transfer disadvantage Chelsea face this summer

This summer is a step into the unknown for Chelsea. For the first time in 19 years, the club is under new ownership and changes are inevitable. It's simply a case of when rather than if they will be made by Todd Boehly, who fronted the consortium that bought Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.

One decision that has already been made is that Thomas Tuchel will be given greater licence than previous head coaches to oversee Chelsea's work in the transfer market – and there is a lot to do with several question marks over key members of the first-team squad.

Signings are needed, potentially in every position. The departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen have made defence a priority but the futures of midfielders N'Golo Kante and Jorginho need to be clarified given the duo have just 12 months remaining on their contracts.

Then there is Tuchel's attack, which has become something of a problem area. Romelu Lukaku has made it clear he would like to leave Chelsea this summer and return to Inter Milan on loan, something far from easy to swallow given the Blues spent a club-record £97.5million on the Belgian striker last summer.

Timo Werner is understood to want more regular game time next season. Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic too. Tuchel is unable to offer such assurances, especially given Chelsea have held talks with Ousmane Dembele's representatives over a move to Stamford Bridge when his Barcelona contract expires at the end of this month.

Chelsea's summer transfer plans were put on pause for three months after Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government and EU. It wasn't until the takeover was completed less than two weeks ago that the Blues could operate normally once more – and Tuchel has accepted that put