Chelsea Set To Offload 11 Players In Another Transfer Window Of High Turnover
Another summer transfer window of high turnover is expected at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea looking to address a few key areas of their squad in time for the 2024/25 season.
It has been another disappointing and underwhelming campaign for the Blues in the Premier League. The season could end as somewhat of a success should they taste triumph in the FA Cup but they face the tournament favourites Manchester City in the semi-final later this month.
Chelsea are currently sat in ninth-place in the league table after a 30-game period of inconsistency under Mauricio Pochettino. The Blues have won 12 of their 30 matches, drawn eight and lost 10 under the Argentine, whose position at the club will be assessed in the summer.
After the latest disappointing result at the weekend, a 2-2 draw away at rock-bottom Sheffield United, Pochettino revealed that the club will have an extensive look at the squad and the situation at the end of the season in order to carry out the process of improving what they have available to them. “It is a normal process that has happened,” the Argentine said.
“We need to accept, working and trying to fix this type of problem. Always when the end of the season arrives, we need to analyse the squad and what we are missing to try to add people with the capacity to provide what we are seeing today, to improve in the next seasons.”
In order to get what they are “missing”, Chelsea will have to look to offload players they do not see in their long-term vision. In today’s world with the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) that have been cracked down on this season by the Premier League in rather brutal fashion, plenty of clubs are looking to sell some of their academy talent in order to receive what is known as ‘pure profit’.
So the likes of Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah, Ian Maatsen, Armando Broja and Lewis Hall could follow a similar route to Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori, Billy Gilmour and Tammy Abraham, who were all sold by Chelsea in recent years. The brutality of modern football, whether you like it or not, means there is now extra incentive to sell those who make the incredibly difficult step from the academy to senior level.
Gallagher’s future at the Blues remains uncertain. The player himself wants to stay at Stamford Bridge but with his contract coming to an end in just over 12 months’ time and official talks over extending his deal yet to begin, there is a large cloud hanging over the 24-year-old’s head as the summer approaches.
The England international, who has worn the captain’s armband more than any other player in the Chelsea squad this season, has interest from Tottenham, who are said to still be keeping a close eye on his situation. Meanwhile, Chalobah, despite being impressive since returning from injury recently, is someone who is viewed as expendable in the summer.
Chalobah nearly joined Bayern Munich last summer but a move for the Cobham graduate fell through at the final minute. The Blues are likely to look at selling him once again when the season is over, with other centre-backs from Europe being looked at by officials from Stamford Bridge.
Hall is expected to join Newcastle United on a permanent deal in the summer. The 19-year-old is currently on loan at St. James’ Park and the Magpies have an obligation to make the deal permanent for £35million.
Broja, too, could leave Chelsea for good in the summer. The club were looking to sell the striker in January but because the transfer window was so quiet in terms of money being spent anywhere in the Premier League, a loan deal to Fulham was agreed upon.
The 22-year-old forward has not had the best time across west London as of yet. Broja has made just five appearances for the Cottagers and is yet to find himself on the score sheet. West Ham United have a long-term interest in the Albania international.
All the aforementioned players, if sold, will account for pure profit. However, an exit for Marc Cucurella, who is also viewed as expendable ahead of the summer window, would cost Chelsea a loss in the tens of millions of pounds.
Cucurella, signed for £60million in the summer of 2022, has not had the best of times at Chelsea and will surely go for a small fraction of that price should he leave. While the Spaniard remains happy at Stamford Bridge, the club may well look to let him go if the right offer can be agreed upon.
Pochettino may have played it down at the weekend but Thiago Silva is expected to leave the club in the summer. “It’s a thing that, at the moment, we are not talking about the future of the player in the squad,” Pochettino said on Silva’s future.
“We are competing and that is a decision for sure the club needs to ask and we need to talk and agree the future of the squad at the end of the season. Of course, he is one of the players we need to discuss. At the moment, so far, there is nothing.”
Silva is set to leave the club as a free agent when his contract expires at the end of June. Chelsea signed Silva on a free transfer in 2020 from Paris Saint-Germain.
There are some players that clearly have no future at Chelsea and will be on the transfer list come the summer. Malang Sarr, someone who has not made a competitive appearance for the club in almost two years, is unsurprisingly one of them.
Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Hakim Ziyech – who are all out on loan at the moment – will also be subject to plenty of speculation over the summer. Lucas Bergstrom has just over 12 months remaining on his contract and with a very competitive goalkeeping pool at Stamford Bridge, the shot-stopper could be moved on permanently.
