After winning their first-ever Champions League title, Chelsea are desperate to strengthen their line-up for next season as owner Roman Abramovich begins to loosen the purse strings.
With talisman Didier Drogba confirming his departure, enhancing the striking line will be Chelsea's biggest priority during the offseason.
Several high-profile candidates have been linked to Chelsea already, with FC Porto striker Hulk the biggest one. Hulk is considered one of the best players in the Portuguese league and is wanted by some of the biggest clubs in the world.
Hulk's agent Teodoro Fonseca came out and said the striker would be interested in a move to West London. "We are open to talks with Chelsea at anytime, anyplace," Fonseca was quoted in the Daily Mail. "There is interest, but at the moment there is still nothing concrete. He likes the English Premier League a lot and Chelsea are a good club for Hulk."
The Brazilian striker, however, has a massive 100 million Euro buyout clause in his contract, meaning Chelsea will have to make a substantial bid to tempt Porto to sell.
"Hulk has won everything at Porto except the Champions League," Fonseca told Lancenet. "Of course Porto will not let him go easily, but in the end his desire will prevail."
Other strikers rumored to interest Chelsea include Atletico Madrid's Radamel Falcao and Seydou Doumbia.
However, with the decision on a new manager still not made, it is expected to take some more time before advanced negotiations are made. Roberto Di Matteo still remains in contention for the job with Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay admitting "he is in the mix."
It has been reported that Di Matteo might be given a one-year deal so that Chelsea can go for Pep Guardiola, who is taking a one-year break from soccer, for the season after that.
The other big player interesting Chelsea is the highly-coveted Eden Hazard of Lille. Hazard, who was named the French League's player of the year for the second-straight year, has already confirmed he will leave Lille with the Belgian set to choose from Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. It is believed that he is leaning toward Chelsea at the moment, after the London club's success in Europe, but the Hazard is expected to make a concrete decision only next week.
Chelsea are also expected to release some players who have come to the end of their contracts. Salomon Kalou and Jose Bosingwa will not be playing their football at Stamford Bridge next season.
Frank Lampard, Florent Malouda and Michael Essien, nevertheless, will be kept at London with the trio expected to be given new contracts while a decision on midfielder Yossi Benayoun, who was on loan at Arsenal last season, is still to be made.
Lampard, who has one year left on his current deal is expected to be given a payrise.
Chelsea are also looking at youngsters to add to their squad with the likes of Hulk and Hazard. Chelsea have apparently failed in their bid to sign another young player, Lucas Moura, who plays for Brazilian club Sao Paulo. The Blues had a reported 40 million Euro bid turned down by Sao Paulo.
"We did not accept the offer, but Chelsea is closest to signing Lucas," Sao Paulo president Juvenal Jovenico said. "Internazionale made an offer of 20 million, but this was not considered sufficient by us. Real Madrid is one of the other interested clubs. Lucas is a big player who will triumph in Europe, but Sao Paulo will sell him only for an enormous offer."
Moura's agent, however, quashed the possibility, saying the midfielder would move to Europe only after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
