After a couple of seasons of stagnation, Chelsea are a football club on an upward trajectory again.
The Blues have enjoyed a superb opening season to life under club legend Frank Lampard, with the former midfielder currently having his side sat third in the Premier League table, guided them to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and they're still alive in the Champions League, though they will need to produce a stunning comeback to overturn Bayern Munich's 3-0 lead from the first-leg.
Whilst things, on the whole, have been positive on the pitch for Chelsea and Lampard this season, the Blues are now starting to replicate that positivity off the pitch.
Ahead of next season, though a start date for the 2020/21 campaign has not yet been confirmed, the Blues are making some serious noises in the transfer market, with the Stamford Bridge club being linked with a plethora of big-name stars.
Though the summer transfer window has not yet opened for business, Chelsea have already secured the signatures of Ajax midfielder Hakim Ziyech and Germany international Timo Werner.
But despite the fact that the Blues have already splashed out more than £80million on landing Ziyech and Werner, who will add further quality to Lampard's attacking options, the Blues are not showing any signs of slowing down their summer recruitment drive.
It is understood by football.london that Chelsea are keen on landing the services of Leicester City left-back Ben Chilwell and Bayer Leverkusen attacking-midfielder Kai Havertz, as Lampard aims to assemble a squad that would be capable of challenging Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title next season.
But Havertz is not the only Bundesliga star to have been linked with a move to West London in recent months, with Borussia Dortmund sensation Jadon Sancho also being heavily linked with a return to the Premier League.
Chelsea are long-term admirers of the England international and are continuing to keep tabs on the developments concerning his future, though they have now prioritised Havertz as their main target.
But if Chelsea were to push hard to land Sancho, who is also a key target for Manchester United, it would mean that Lampard's attacking options would be frightening.
Sancho, though, is not the only winger being linked with a move to Stamford Bridge, with the Blues now, according to an array of reports, showing an interest in Brentford star Said Benrahma.
Therefore, if the Blues were to land Chilwell, Havertz, Sancho and Benrahma this summer, though, of course, the chances of landing all four of those names is highly unlikely, Lampard would be looking at one of the most frightening squads that the Premier League would be able to boast about.
But taking into account all of the transfer rumours and deals that Chelsea have already concluded ahead of next season, what would be their strongest starting line-up and substitutes bench, taking into account that the rule of naming nine substitutes looks set to continue next season?
Despite all the rumours about his future, Kepa Arrizabalaga is almost certain to keep his place between the sticks.
Ahead of him would be a back four, from right to left, of Reece James, who, considering Lampard's youth policy, stands a real chance of making the right-back position his own next season, Antonio Rudiger, Kurt Zouma and Chilwell, should the Blues be able to land the England defender.
Moving into midfield, Lampard is already spoiled for choice in that area, meaning the arrivals of Havertz and Ziyech would make it even tougher to select three starters.
But it is likely that N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic would keep their places with Havertz operating in a more advanced role just ahead of them.
In attack, if Chelsea were to land Sancho he would most likely take up the left-wing role, with Werner operating down the middle and Ziyech on the right.
Taking all of that into account, Chelsea's starting line-up next season, though there are no guarantees it will look like the above graphic, could be frightening.
But if this squad did manage to come to fruition, Lampard would be left with a plethora of options to make up the bench, including the likes of Mason Mount, Billy Gilmour, Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham and Benrahma.
Chelsea's XI: Arrizabalaga; James, Rudiger, Zouma, Chilwell; Kante, Kovacic, Havertz; Ziyech, Werner, Sancho.
Substitutes: Caballero, Azpilicueta, Tomori, Jorginho, Mount, Gilmour, Pulisic, Benrahma, Abraham.
