Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino might've already identified his side's first target for the January transfer window. The Blues boss has already overseen almost PS450million worth of arrivals in his lone summer with the club and will no doubt be reaching deeper into Todd Boehly's back pocket to further bolster his chances of a top four finish.

Having already bought in the likes of Moises Caicedo for a record-breaking PS115million, as well as youngsters Cole Palmer, Axel Disasi and Nicolas Jackson who have all made impacts since their arrivals at Stamford Bridge, Pochettino has a clear vision in mind when it comes to his latest project.

While the Blues have already spent PS1billion on signings under the ownership of Todd Boehly, it's not always been the manager's decision on which players to buy. With the American having installed a new recruitment team since buying the club, it might seem as though he'll be heading up the plans for another window to come this winter.

Business over the summer, and the two previous windows before that under Boehly, have all been led by the club's co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart. However, Pochettino has admitted that he needs to be taking greater responsibility for Chelsea's business and has said in the past he's already making plans to strengthen his side in January.

He said: "The good thing is the relationship and communication is very good with the sporting directors and owners. When the transfer window was closed I said I need to be more involved now in all the decisions. I have started to work to identify what we need for January.

"Football is very dynamic and it is about the present always. Things can change until January. We need to work to recover [Christopher] Nkunku and Armando Broja to try to provide the team with more goals and become solid. But, of course, we have already started to work [on transfers]."

Despite his words being centred around goalscoring and moving the ball further up the pitch, it appears as though the Blues could swoop in for a defensive addition to start the winter window off. Reports coming out of Spain suggest the Blues could go after 16-year-old Barcelona centre-back Pau Cubarsi after his impressive performances for the club's B team.

The youngster has already made five appearances in the Spanish third division and signed a new contract over the summer which'll tie him down to the club until the summer of 2026. However, Diario Sport believe there's a release clause in the contract that the Blues could trigger in the region of PS8.5m-PS13m.

While it'd be a lot to pay for someone of such a young age, the Blues have not shied away from splashing out on young players, especially under Boehly's guidance. The reports come after several injury issues have hampered the start to Pochettino's reign with the likes of Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah all suffering problems across the start of the season.

Sign up to our Chelsea WhatsApp service and get all the latest breaking news and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Chelsea writers direct to your phone.

By signing up to this free service you will be the first to know the news from Stamford Bridge as it happens.