1. Outgoings
Chelsea has already—within the first 10 days of the transfer window—confirmed the departure of eight players from the club as their contracts will expire at the end of this month. From the under-23 side, the club confirmed the departures of goalkeeper Karlo Ziger, attacking midfielder Theirno Ballo and central midfielder George McEachran on contract expiry. None of the three have had a very productive season and they have not put on performances that amazed people at the club. Another player to depart from the U23s is goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom, who leaves on loan to recently relegated side Peterborough United in League One. The Finnish U21 international is very highly rated by everyone at Cobham, and this will be his first taste of senior-level football. The arrival of talented former Southampton U18 goalkeeper Eddie Beach is imminent. Thus, it makes perfect sense to loan out Bergstrom as the Blues bring in a new youth shot-stopper.
When it comes to departures from the first team, the club has confirmed that Andreas Christensen, Jake Clarke-Salter, Danny Drinkwater, Charly Musonda and Antonio Rudiger will all leave west London as their contracts expire too.
It goes without saying that the biggest loss from this list of players will be that of Rudiger, who has already been announced as a new Real Madrid signing. Despite the club matching the wage demands of the German before sanctions, Rudiger still didn’t accept the new contract offered by the club in time and he instead decided the join the Spanish giants as he couldn’t delay a decision any longer. Rudiger’s big personality and solid defensive skills will be missed.
Unfortunately, on the other hand, the way Christensen is leaving the club has certainly damaged his legacy in SW6. Christensen’s professionalism has come into question many times and the last string was when he withdrew from the starting XI ahead of the FA Cup final. The club was confident of securing the Danish defender to a new contract, but Christensen kept changing his demands, confirming the fact that he didn’t respect the club enough before sanctions. He is expected to join Barcelona when the Blaugrana can finally register players.
Clarke-Salter has decided to join QPR after a productive loan spell with Coventry City last season. As for Drinkwater and Musonda, it is not confirmed which club they will join in the coming months. However, multiple clubs are interested in their signatures.