Transfer windows around most European leagues are now closed. Of course, there are still some options like Turkey and Greece. But overall, if Chelsea were not able to engineer some exits after all these months, there is very little opportunity that they will be capable of pulling something off at this point.
For the most part, Chelsea did a brilliant job of finding new homes for players who were no longer in their plans. But in some cases, they failed. And it looks like they might end up terminating the contract of one such player.
According to TEAMtalk, a report has claimed that Chelsea are weighing up terminating the contract of Raheem Sterling. It is so that they can get the Englishman's substantial wages off their books and also reduce their squad size further.
Of course, if the report is accurate, then that could be an expensive operation for Chelsea. Sterling is believed to be earning around £300,000 per week at Stamford Bridge but he is completely out of Enz Maresca's plans. It is not the ideal situation to be in.
Chelsea in talks to terminate €55m player's contract
Fulham were believed to be interested in signing Sterling this summer. But ultimately, nothing concrete materialised from that.
Sterling signed for Chelsea for a transfer fee believed to be around €55 million back in the summer of 2022, the first one overseen by the new ownership group. They did not have a structure in place at that point and it felt like there was no long-term vision.
Of course, some additions made then have worked. Marc Cucurella is a brilliant example. But there were plenty others that were completely out of the picture a short while after arriving that summer. They were not helped by the fact that Thomas Tuchel was sacked weeks into the new season.