Chelsea have already completed transfer that means Mane is not Pochettino answer

Chelsea are going to be active in the transfer market this summer but Sadio Mane may not be the right player at the right time as the Blues look to form a squad in Mauricio Pochettino's image

Chelsea already have a bulging squad but that does not mean they have plans to sign more players in the summer. The Blues are set to prioritise adding a goalkeeper, midfielder and forward for Mauricio Pochettino to work with as the club's hierarchy look to fix longstanding areas of transition.

It will be a stiff task for sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, who will also be in discussion with Pochettino of the squad's requirements to catapult the team up the table in 2023/24.

The former Liverpool star is a previous winner of the Premier League Golden Boot and has been involved with a high-intensity, pressing system with the Reds that could allow him to tick a number of boxes for Pochettino. A £35million deal less than 12 months ago saw Mane join Bayern Munich, but the German club are said to be willing to allow the Senegal international to leave.

In many ways, the forward's profile might have been ideal for Chelsea that season. There was no major desire for an out-and-out striker until a late U-turn saw Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrive at Stamford Bridge, as the west London side looked for a fluid forward line.

Chelsea have already signed Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke, and have Raheem Sterling, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic at their disposal in addition to Armando Broja when he returns to fitness. In terms of squad building, it simply does not make sense to target Mane at this moment unless he has been identified by Pochettino and the Blues can use players as a makeweight in a deal.

At 31, Mane is unlikely to follow Chelsea's current path of signing young players to long term deals and outside of his on the pitch impact will represent another player the club will eventually lose money on. He would provide Premier League experience, but as Sterling's transfer has shown, the correct system needs to be in place to benefit from that first.

There will be dreams from many that Pochettino can form his own Harry Kane and Son Heung-min partnership to dispel Chelsea's goalscoring issues. Losing players from the squad will be required to be the first priority to ensure partnerships can be formed in the smaller group that Pochettino prefers.

A number of Chelsea's signings have not hit the ground running already, and Pochettino has shown persistence in the past, including with Son, who endured a difficult first year in the Premier League and considered his future. With the pending addition of Nkunku, a true striker would be more important in attempting to replicate that partnership too.

Until Chelsea begin to lose some players, it's almost impossible to countenance bringing more in that exist outside of their true priorities.

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