Chelsea transfers: Pochettino reveals ‘official meeting’ and admits Blues ‘need to talk’ about Gallagher | OneFootball

Mauricio Pochettino blows out his cheeks during a Premier League match.

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino insists he is “happy with the squad” that he has at his disposal but admits the Blues are ready “to take some decisions for the future”.

The Blues have spent over £1billion since a Todd Boehly-led consortium bought the club in May 2022 with the Chelsea transfer team recruiting lots of exciting talent.

Chelsea are far from the finished article and many think they require a new striker in the January transfer window to compete for European positions.

Ivan Toney, Victor Osimhen and others have been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge but Pochettino claims that he still needs to have “an official meeting” to determine their winter transfer tactics.

Pochettino told a pre-match press conference on Friday: “We need to sit together, in an official meeting. I think we are all always, every single day, talking about the squad. There are some players that we own like Andrey Santos come back from loan from Nottingham Forest. We need to take some decisions.

“I think I am happy with the squad that we have. We are focused on recovering the players as soon as possible. But at the moment, yes we are assessing the things we see in the squad and see some possibilities. Maybe we can do or not, but at the moment we did not take any decisions.”

Conor Gallagher has been linked with a move away from Chelsea in the January transfer window with Tottenham among the clubs thought to be after the midfielder.

On that speculation, Pochettino added: “I think we need to talk about many many things. I think it’s clear that Conor still has a one-and-a-half year contract with us. Of course that is like all the players in other clubs, you arrive at this point, always about to talk, to take some decisions for the future.

“Of course it is going to be between the club and player. But in the moment nothing to announce, nothing to say. The club is happy with him. He is happy here and I think at the moment there is nothing to announce.”

When asked about team news for their FA Cup third-round clash against Preston North End, Pochettino replied: “Chilly and Carney [Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka] are not available for tomorrow.

“We will see for the next game, Middlesbrough [EFL Cup] semi-final or Fulham. They are doing well, they are training with the group the last few days and we are so happy with their evolution.

“[Romeo] Lavia is recovering after his injury, we don’t know still when he will be available again. It was a problem in his quads during a game against Crystal Palace.

“At the moment, no [updates]. Players like Benoit Badiashile I think he will be available next week. No new injuries.”