Chelsea currently have 33 senior players in their squad and manager Graham Potter is already facing difficulties in including all the players in his training setup. Without a doubt, Chelsea will look to cut short their squad in the summer transfer window as a number of players will be put on the transfer list as FFP concerns also grow.
In the last two transfer windows, under the ownership of Todd Boehly, CFC have splashed over £600 million in transfer fees to bring in players like Enzo Fernandez, Mykahilo Mudryk, Wesley Fofana, Raheem Sterling and so many other attractive names to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s squad mega overhaul is expected to enter its last stages this summer but before that CFC need to reduce the squad size and in turn trim the wage bill.
Chelsea recently announced their results for 2021-22 accounts and the Blues recorded a whopping loss of £121 million. In order to comply with the Financial Fair Play rules, Chelsea will be forced to sell some of their players in order to elevate the income streams of the club. Chelsea have spent a record breaking £600 million on transfers last summer and this January. The Blues also spent over £20 million to acquire Potter from Brighton, which is expected to be a world record sum paid for a manager.
Chelsea are aware of the risk of violating FFP and are ready to sell players in the summer with a long list of players deemed expendable. Some of the notable firs team members could leave as CFC will look to get big pay cheques from their sales.
CFC boss Potter has acknowledged the FFP reality and is aware that certain important players could leave the club as Chelsea tries to comply with the FFP regulations. The former Brighton manager also admitted that such a huge squad size is not optimal.
"“That’s the challenge that we have. It is a big squad, a deep squad, a squad with a lot of players. It has been a challenge to manage them but it has not been a negative challenge from my perspective. They have been amazing, I would say, with the situation and how professional, how together they’ve been, and how supportive they have been of each other. That’s something that I can only be positive about.Regardless of the ifs [of qualifying for Europe], the number of the squad is not optimal regardless of whatever competition we are in. I think everybody would suggest that’s correct. I think that’s a normal part of a football club’s business at the end of the season, different things happen, and people move on. It might be because a player needs more game time or something else but that’s not something I can report on now.” (via GOAL)"
Of the players that could leave Chelsea, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic are the big names that could bring a huge windfall to Chelsea. The Blues are open to selling Mount if contract negotiations do not proceed forward and as per football.london, CFC will put a price tag of £70 million on the Englishman.
With CFC planning to sign a new midfielder in the summer to partner Fernandez, Kovacic might rethink his future. He recently met with the chiefs of AC Milan and offered himself but his asking price could discourage Milan. The Croatian is valued at £35 million by Transfermarkt and will have one year left on his current deal in the summer.
Pulisic was supposed to be placed on the transfer list in January but his injury meant that he was no longer available for sale. The Blues will try to sell the USMNT talisman in the summer. A price tag of £30 million was placed on Pulisic before the winter transfer window and CFC will look for a similar amount.
By selling these three important faces of the team, Chelsea could raise around £135 million, which would massively help in relaxing the FFP worries.
Will Chelsea see a firesale this summer?