COMMENT: A new centre-half is needed. A fullback. A goalscorer. A locker room shorn of genuine leaders. A ravaged club culture. There's a lot confronting Antonio Conte ahead of his arrival at Chelsea.
The list seems endless. But the biggest dilemma facing the incoming manager. The biggest problem he must tackle. It all centres around the highest earner at the club and where he fits in Chelsea's future.
Eden Hazard. There's no escaping it. Conte, to be successful, must decide if his team can afford such a luxury.
And no, we're not talking a luxury in terms of whether Chelsea's No10 suits Conte's playing system. This quandary goes way, way beyond that. It's about whether Conte - and Chelsea - can afford to mold the team and the club around a player who has no interest in being a leader.
Piet de Visser, Roman Abramovich's chief football adviser, lifted the lid on Hazard's approach in a no-holds-barred assessment of his relationship with Jose Mourinho last week. The Dutchman, who launched the European careers of Ronaldo and Romario, confirmed what Chelsea insiders had told Tribalfootball.com earlier this season.
"You should never make him the player who must carry the team," argued De Visser. "Do not make him the captain. Just tell him to have fun on the field. Mourinho is a winner and he wanted to get even more from Eden. He was already great, good, so why not leave him alone?"
This is essentially what we were told before Christmas. Hazard isn't the personality to carry a club. He's not interested in the responsibility of leadership - nor the opportunities it offers. His chat about wanting to share the Ballon d'Or stage with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is just that: chat. He's among the last on the training the pitch at Cobham and among the first to scoot out the carpark when the day's duties are over.
For the Belgian, this could be it. At 25, he may've found his level. A level that - when it all comes together - places Hazard among the top rung of the game's elite. But is that enough for Chelsea? Indeed, will that be enough for Conte?
It's a new era at Stamford Bridge. With new demands.
Just over a year ago, Marina Granovskaia happily made Hazard the highest paid player at the club. And at the time, it seemed a wise decision. Within weeks of putting pen to paper on that five-year deal, Hazard was winning the PFA and FAW Player of the Year gongs and leading Chelsea to a Premier League title. But fast-forward to today and even Hazard's most ardent backers will accept that the player is getting far, far more out of the club, than he is offering Chelsea.
How long can this be tolerated? And under a new manager armed with a brief that includes driving a new culture throughout the club... How does any type of plan devised by Conte get off the ground when your highest paid player, with the greatest profile, can't wait to get out of the club and home to his family? Nothing wrong with that, of course. That is, unless there's an expectation of responsibility and leadership that goes with your record salary...
Monday night and the visit of Tottenham represents a good opportunity for Blues fans. Christian Eriksen versus Hazard. Today, on current form, who would you take? And what about in two years' time? Who do you think, on current behaviour, we'll be talking about more?
Eriksen is almost a year younger and earns less than half of what Hazard is on. Yet, listen to the Dane, and he sounds like a leader. Like a man desperate to embrace the responsibility. A genuine No10 on the field. And - unlike his Blues counterpart - a genuine No10 also away from the pitch. Consider it again, Chelsea fans, as a five-year player, who would you prefer playing off your centre-forward?
This is what will be keeping Conte up at night. Confidants have told Tribalfootball.com that he recognises the team "lacks personality". He'd prefer Chelsea go for the hardened, mouthy Juventus veteran Leonardo Bonucci ahead of Everton youngster John Stones. And Radja Nainggolan, the Roma midfielder, needs only to put pen to paper with negotiations now so advanced. Like Bonucci, Nainggolan is no shrinking violet. A right gobby so-and-so. In the Serie A-based pair, Conte has sought to add a couple of big, positive personalities to get Cobham hopping again.
But where will this leave Hazard?
There's an argument to be made that Chelsea should cash in. His reputation, despite a disastrous campaign, remains intact and Chelsea would expect premium price from any summer sale.
The final decision will be left to Conte. And it could be that Hazard can still be of value to Chelsea... as a makeweight. A card to play to land Paul Pogba from Juventus? Or what about James Rodriguez at Real Madrid?
With so much lost ground to recover, Hazard, in his current state of mind, is a personality Chelsea has no time to indulge. The No10 role is crucial. A motivated, driven leadership group is essential. As Conte would put it, the 'flag' of Chelsea can't be someone happy to do 'just enough' to get by.