Whereas many view the remainder of the month as time to solely complete new signings, some individuals are tasked with handling exports. Chelsea’s current squad is massive and whoever that individual is deserves a vacation come September 1. The Blues have shipped out several players so far with most of them departing from the academy. The first team still needs a lot of work after going largely untouched for the majority of the summer. Third choice goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli has been Chelsea’s only signing thus far. However, Romelu Lukaku and Jules Kounde deals seem to be nearing completion and the Blues need to make room. Thomas Tuchel has one more game—an intrasquad clash on Saturday—to assess his options ahead of the campaign’s beginning on Wednesday.
Here is a prediction as to what the Blues do with every fringe player from their preseason camp:
1. Sell
Naturally, this is going to be the largest category given the loan restrictions that are set to take effect in the coming seasons. Chelsea’s current squad is absolutely massive, even for a preseason team. The down market over the past two summers has made it difficult for Marina Granovskaia to work out beneficial exports, so those players have remained inside the organization at some capacity. It’s for this reason that we saw more older players than usual join the loan army last season.
The Blues have made a habit of selling young this summer, but some of the names in this category will balance the scales a bit. Old heads like Michy Batshuayi, Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta are amongst the favorites to leave in the coming days. Each has had numerous chances at getting into the first team and, despite Drinkwater’s surprisingly excellent performance against Bournemouth, they’ve all been equally as uninspiring. Joining them will, in all likelihood, be English attack-minded midfielder, Ross Barkley. Barkley was left out of Tuchel’s squad against Spurs during the final real preseason clash. This is telling for someone who usually thrives in preseason. No matter his fee, Barkley will be considered somewhat of a business success after his purchase in 2018 for just £15 million.
There are a handful of other relatively easy decisions here and those are Baba Rahman and Matt Miazga. Both are talented players with bright futures still ahead of them, unfortunately each represents a failed risk taken by the club when evaluating young talent. The individual who perhaps epitomizes that concept is also expected to depart Stamford Bridge after what’s considered by supporters to be one of the worst transfers in the Roman Abramovich era, Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Kenedy is the individual who is most unlucky to be sold. A few seasons ago, Chelsea would’ve been lucky to have this in-form version of Kenedy who excels on the wings. He lit up La Liga last season and had one of the best loan spells of any Blues loanee. Unfortunately, Tuchel’s team has no room on the wings for the Brazilian, so he’ll depart on a permanent deal. The one name many will be surprised to see on this slide is Jake Clarke-Salter. Clarke-Salter turns 24 next month. Chelsea would’ve hoped for a faster development for the highly respected centerback, it just doesn’t look like it’ll pan out for him in SW6 given the Blues’ current defensive depth. Factor in Kounde’s expected arrival and Clarke-Salter basically has one foot out the door already.
Lastly, expect Lewis Baker to call it a career at Chelsea when he leaves in the coming weeks. The 26-year-old has been around the block one too many times to accept another loan at this age. His appearance at centerback (albeit decent) earlier in the preseason went a long way in showing the world how Tuchel views Baker’s future at the club. It’ll be a shame to see all of these talented individuals depart in the end, it’s necessary though.