Defence Is Chelsea's Biggest Area of Concern Ahead of 2016/17 Season

With the new Premier League season approaching for Antonio Conte and Chelsea, we're seeing the Blues squad come together.

The new manager has been at the club since mid-July, and he's seen enough to allow him to make decisions with conviction. Note that until Papy Djilobodji's £8 million transfer to Sunderland on Friday, no permanent transfers out of Stamford Bridge had been made on Conte's watch.

We're beginning to witness the Italian allow more of the players he's worked with in the past few weeks to depart, whether that be on loan or permanently.

Djilobodji was the start; with Matt Miazga and Kenedy not traveling to Germany for Sunday's pre-season friendly with Werder Bremen, it's expected that pair will also be moving away from Stamford Bridge shortly.

It's loan moves that are likely for them, with their relative inexperience needing to be built upon if they are to make the grade. Given the potential they have shown—Kenedy especially—there's no reason why they shouldn't be feeling confident about their Chelsea futures.

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Where Conte shouldn't be feeling confident is defensively, as beyond his starting rearguard, he has nothing. We're not suggesting Chelsea's back-up players aren't up to task or criticising their quality; it's a case of Conte having no tested players beyond Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic and John Terry.

Of the 23 players who traveled to Bremen, just six were defenders. Outside of that aforementioned quartet, the other two were Ola Aina and Michael Hector. Aina is yet to make a competitive first-team appearance in Chelsea colours, while up until the end of last season, Hector was part of a struggling Reading team in the Championship.

That doesn't breed an air of authority from where Chelsea stand. For a club hoping to strike back in the Premier League after their failures last season, it's a far from ideal position.

Indeed, if it wasn't clear come the conclusion of 2015/16, it is now: Chelsea need to make some defensive signings. And fast.

Shipping 53 goals in the Premier League last season—the Blues' worst record since 1996/97—defensive reinforcements were a priority this summer. The capture of N'Golo Kante is a big part of that, as what he does in front of Terry and Cahill is going to be vital. But Chelsea are severely lacking in numbers.

Should either of Terry or Cahill get injured or suspended, for instance, Chelsea are in the mire. Kurt Zouma is still fighting to get fit after the knee injury that prematurely ended his season last term, and outside of him, the club has no other recognised first-team central defender.

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That's going to put Conte in the same territory as Guus Hiddink found himself come the end of the previous campaign. With Terry out injured and suspended as the season counted down, the interim boss was forced into using John Obi Mikel as a makeshift centre-back.

Mikel is competing at the Olympic Games with Nigeria, so there's every chance it could be Nemanja Matic forced to drop deeper to fill in a hole.

That surely can't happen. On the eve of a new season—such a vital one at that—Chelsea shouldn't be in this position. And for the Terry-Cahill scenario, read Ivanovic and Azpilicueta; just one bad tackle or judgement could mean Chelsea are scrapping around for numbers, let alone capable players.

It's not all bad news, as the rest of the squad is looking strong. Simply by tweaking the formula, Conte has added depth to what's at his disposal in midfield and attack. Signing Michy Batshuayi has given an edge to the strike force, especially as Bertrand Traore has continued to impress in pre-season. Diego Costa remains at the club, and when he's on form, there isn't a better goalscorer in the Premier League.

Deploying attacking midfielders as wingers has also meant Chelsea's midfield has more options. Before, it had been about those attacking three who supported Costa, but playing four across the middle—Kante, Matic, Oscar, Cesc Fabregas and others are the options for the two central areas—has given a new lease of life to players who struggled last term.

Chelsea have an abundance of attack-minded players who seem more suited to the new system. Eden Hazard, Pedro, Willian, Victor Moses and, dare we say it, Juan Cuadrado, all offer width and a threat from wide areas.

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Defensively, however, the concerns remain. In terms of what we saw last year, nothing has changed, and the worrying thing has been Chelsea's lack of movement to set that right. While Djilobodji and Baba Rahman have left the club—Rahman's on loan with Schalke 04 for the season—we're still awaiting defensive arrivals at Stamford Bridge.

Normally, there would be a few upgrades to improve in key areas, but right-back will be a problem if Ivanovic is relied upon to stop the same pacey wingers that so tormented him in 2015/16. As much of a fine servant as he has been to the club, Chelsea can no longer rely on the Serb on the flanks. The rapid changes in the Premier League have left him out in the cold, and something must be done about it.

Without making Chelsea's No. 2 the scapegoat, he is Chelsea's biggest weakness. From the right side of defence, so many problems occur. Teams isolate him, which drags players out of position elsewhere as they attempt to cover for him.

It's not something new; it happened for much of the past 12 months, and Chelsea haven't acted to resolve it. They need to do that before the transfer window closes on August 31, as Conte can't last between now and January with what he has at the back.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.