Chelsea can still complete four transfers this week with clear Xavi Simons timeline

And then there were less than three weeks to go. The summer transfer window is approaching its final stages, and the Premier League is almost back.

For Chelsea and Enzo Maresca, neither can come soon enough. On the pitch, the players are riding a wave of enormous momentum off the back of last season's dramatic but thrilling end.

Off it, they are still desperate to get sizeable deals over the line both in and out of Stamford Bridge. Despite the bulk of the high profile and most important transfers being completed, there is always more left.

With the fringes of the squad overflowing at times throughout the past 12 months, clearing the books is a priority. In order to avoid a set of frantically arranged and mostly unwanted loans late on, sales for a set of outsiders are being pursued.

Renato Veiga, despite his profile as a left-sided centre-back, which is exactly what Maresca is keen to find cover for in the wake of Levi Colwill's brutal ACL injury, will not be reintegrated into the group. He has come close to a permanent exit twice already this year and nothing around that has changed.

Chelsea have enough defenders to find answers without Colwill and are unlikely to try and bolster the position before the 7pm deadline on September 1.

Veiga is far from being alone. Axel Disasi, Raheem Sterling, and Ben Chilwell are all in the same camp. David Datro Fofana is also looking for a new home and Alfie Gilchrist is expected to make a move to the EFL.

Chelsea will believe that all of these players can settle elsewhere in the remaining two-and-a-bit weeks of the window. Carney Chukwuemeka might get the biggest transfer fee of the lot if he completes a return to Borussia Dortmund.

Talks are under way to make that dream a reality but Chelsea will not be getting close to the £40million release clause in his contract. RB Leipzig are among the teams who had expressed interest in Chukwuemeka.

From there, the natural progression is onto Xavi Simons. He is one of two potential arrivals with a lot of groundwork done to seal another big-money move.

Chelsea and Leipzig are locked in conversations over the price and structure which may well rely on some of the aforementioned sales going through first. Simons is actively involved in Leipzig's pre-season and played in a friendly against Lens on Saturday.

With a broad agreement over personal terms, it is the club-to-club negotiations needing to be ironed out. Chelsea will be hopeful of getting it over the line sooner rather than later to allow Simons time to adapt to his new surroundings without too much spill over into the season, which starts on Sunday at home to Crystal Palace.

Unless things progress rapidly, he will not be playing for Chelsea by then, but all parties will have designs on it not dragging on much further. Before the window closes, Chelsea visit West Ham (August 22) and host Fulham (August 30) before an international break.

Both sides have started to explore the chances of putting Christopher Nkunku in as possible makeweight. It would almost certainly have to be as a 'separate' transfer but the outcome and impact on Simons and the cost for both teams would be undeniable.

From Simons, who is attracting interest from Manchester City, to Alejandro Garnacho. Chelsea know they hold more power and sway in this one as Manchester United push to recoup money following the latest major outlay.

They announced Benjamin Sesko in a transfer worth more than £75million over the weekend. It should come as no surprise that Chelsea advanced with their attempts to bring in Garnacho in the aftermath of this. United have long been trying to sell off exiled stars including Garnacho but also Antony and former Chelsea loanee Jadon Sancho.

With Chelsea confident of getting Garnacho for considerably cheaper than United want, they have the strength to hold out until even later on to try and get the best fee possible. This one appears destined to go down to the wire.

And finally there is the future of Nicolas Jackson. He was not included in the matchday squads for either friendly over the weekend as Chelsea aid him in finding a new club. However, with Newcastle United being one of the few teams who could feasibly afford or want Jackson at this point, plenty relies on the future of Alexander Isak.

Chelsea will demand a high price for their striker and have Sesko to benchmark against. This complicates matters with a set of dominos to fall before anything can start to truly happen.

All in all, Chelsea's next transfers could continue to be sales after Lesley Ugochukwu, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Armando Broja all left last week. If Veiga, Disasi, Chukwuemeka, and Fofana can follow shortly than it will give more time to get Simons and Garnacho over the line prior to West Ham, which is just nine days away.

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