They have a ton of older guys and some younger guys who have very little experience or are decent but not special.
Enzo and Reece James are (when Enzo joins) their 2 stars to build around though, and yeah very jealous of those 2, but there's many more positions to nail down. Their 100 CB signings are all expensive punts, no idea how they'll pan out. Fofana has sustained a lot of big injuries for his age. Cucurella and Chilwell are meh. Chalobah is meh. Gallagher is mediocre and not a CL caliber player.
They've basically got question marks in every position, but between Mount/Kovačić/Enzo would have a quality midfield trio and Reece James at right back when he's back fit.
The attack is the most expensive and most difficult to sort out. And they've got 0/3 there. Also questionable goalkeepers. Questionable CB's. Average left backs but fine enough.
Yeah if Enzo ends up joining the midfield is definitely going to be our strongest area and something to build the squad and playing style around.
At the moment it's looking like Kante is willing to take a wage cut to stay and could be extended too so having midfield options from Enzo/Mount/Kovacic/Kante would be mint. While Kante is not the player he once was and he's very prone to injury these days, he could still be a very valuable asset when fit and having more starter quality options in midfield would mean we can manage his minutes and training loads better in hopes of prolonging his top level career a little further.
In midfield on top of the four names mentioned above we'd also have some lads from the group RLC, Gallagher, Chukwuemeka as rotational options / backups who may not be top top quality but still more than enough as squad fillers to play on occasion. There's also Cesare Casadei and the new Brazilian lad Andrey Santos who's about to join but I'm not sure they're going to be around the first team squad anytime in the immediate future and think they'll be heading out on loan to get some experience first before seeing whether they're good enough or not.
Your assessment of the squad is otherwise quite good but I really think Chilwell is better than 'meh'. When fit he's a really good player but the only problem is he's getting all these injuries and that's why we got Cucurella. Cucu's start at the club has been a bit rocky but there's a good player in there as well and I'd wait till I see him in an otherwise better functioning team before making my full judgement on him. Left-back is the least of our issues IMO.
CBs are a bit of a question mark and a lot relies on the shoulders of Fofana who's had a terrible time with injuries so it remains to be seen how he gets on and whether these injury problems will be a recurring thing or just rotten luck for now. Chalobah may not be long-term starter quality but definitely good enough to be in the squad. Until now Koulibaly has been a horror show and the incoming Badiashile is an unknown variable who may or may not work out in our favour. From what I've read he has a bit of Rüdiger -type qualities in him but obviously is still young and raw.
We definitely need to replace Azpilicueta with a player on fresher legs, he's just not good enough anymore and with James' injury record we are crying out for a better backup option at RB. This one's a bit tricky because no top class player will want to join when they know James will always be the first choice whenever he's fit so it's a problem the club need to solve.
The front line is a big problem. If it were possible I'd get rid of all Auba, Havertz, Pulisic and Ziyech in the summer and start off with a clean slate, but that's probably not realistic to do in one go. In any case I'd get rid of eveyone we can find suitable buyers for. Sterling is clearly not a difference maker by himself but if the team around him play to his strengths he can still come good. Nkunku is joining from Leipzig to hopefully provide some goals, but we need more than just him if we're going to ditch the flops. Be interesting to see whether Potter fancies Hudson-Odoi. In the youngster department we have the new striker David Datro Fofana and the winger Omari Hutchinson, both of whom I have high hopes for but probably best not to expect immediate fireworks. I'd definitely look to go for a player like Chiesa, Coman or someone along those lines in the summer if we can shift off some of the previous duds.
Chilwell/Cucurella, Fofana, James, Enzo, Kante, Kovacic, Mount, Sterling, Nkunku would in my opinion make up for a very solid squad core for the next years to come and the age structure for that group players is mostly really good. Just need to sort out a couple of problematic positions mentioned above, pray the likes of Chilwell, Fofana and James can stay fit and I honestly believe the team can be good enough to challenge for the biggest trophies within a couple of years. If Potter proves not good enough to lead this team, the club just need to make sure the next managerial candidate plays the kind of football suited to our player core to get the best out of them without having to do another overhaul so soon.
