Since Clearlake Capital's takeover of Chelsea in the summer of 2022, the club has operated more as a player trading platform than a football club. During this period, 54 senior players have been signed at a cost of over £1 billion, while a further 61 have been sold, many falling into both categories, not to mention the Blues' notorious loan army.
Thus, it is safe to assume, come the summer, Chelsea will be busy in the window again. Thus, here are five members of Liam Rosenior's current first team squad likely to depart Stamford Bridge come the conclusion of this campaign.
5 Chelsea players who will leave in 2026
Filip Jörgensen
Goalkeeper is an obvious area Chelsea will surely look to strengthen. Last July, they reportedly came close to signing Mike Maignan, but has has instead opted to stay at AC Milan, recently signing a new contract with the Rossoneri. First-choice Robert Sánchez continues to be unreliable, but it is back-up Filip Jörgensen who is most-likely to be pushed out the door.
He arrived from Villarreal for a reported fee of £20.7 million in July 2024, but has not justified this price tag. To date, Jörgensen has made just 32 appearances for the club, of which only eight have been in the Premier League, while 14 were in the UEFA Conference League.
Still only 23 years old, there is plenty of time for him to improve and develop. Nevertheless, Jörgensen's ultimate aim is to succeed Kasper Schmeichel as Denmark's number one and, having won just one cap to date, this coming in a friendly against Northern Ireland, he'll surely need to be a number one somewhere to realise that dream.
Gaga Słonina
Sticking with goalkeepers, this one is slightly cheating as he's yet to make a senior first team appearance for Chelsea, but is a current squad member, having been on the bench three times during this campaign. Gaga Słonina joined the Blues from Chicago Fire in the summer of 2022 for a reported fee of $10 million, moving to London as a teenager with little senior expirence to his name.
Well, since then, he has been loaned back to the Fire, followed by stints with Eupen in Belgium and Barnsley in EFL League One, but his career his not kicked on as many anticipated. From a young age, many USMNT supporters tipped Słonina to be America's next great goalkeeper, but he has certainly stalled, having not made a senior appearance since October 2024.
Currently the Blues' third-choice, he needs to make a move as soon as possible, potentially back to Major League Soccer, given that their primary transfer window is still open until 26 March.
Marc Guiu
Chelsea have already tried to offload Marc Guiu once, so it's not too bold to suggest they'll attempt to do so again. In the summer, the Spanish centre-forward joined Sunderland on loan, making three appearances for the Black Cats, scoring against Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup. However, just 25 days after arriving on Wearside, the loan was annulled due to Liam Delap suffering a hamstring tear.
FIFA rules state that a player can only appear for a maximum of two clubs during any one season, meaning Guiu could not be loaned out to a third team come January. Thus, he is somewhat in limbo, having seen just 447 minutes of action for the Blues, starting only five times, his sole run-out under Rosenior coming against Charlton in the FA Cup. Thus, the 20 year old will surely be on the move in the summer, either permanently or on loan again.
Benoît Badiashile
Benoît Badiashile is actually the tenth-most expensive signing of the Todd Boehly-era, arriving for £35 million from Monaco in January 2023, which does not appear to have been a shrewd investment. The France international has regularly proved himself to be unreliable and a liability. As a result, he has started only 11 times across all competitions this season, most notably hooked at half time during a chaotic defeat against Leeds at Elland Road in December.
Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah and Josh Acheampong are all ahead of him in the pecking order, while the recently recalled from Strasbourg Mamadou Sarr is likely to be in the near future too. By next season, Levi Colwill will also be back following his ACL injury suffered in August, meaning Chelsea will be awash with centre-back options, that's before they make any signings, suggesting Badiashile will be squeezed out.
Axel Disasi
Lastly, one of the players signed during the last three years that was more costly than Badiashile is fellow centre-back Axel Disasi. The £38.5 million paid to bring him from the Principality to the King's Road looks like a major misuse of resource, especially given events of the last 12 months or so.
Disasi has not featured for Chelsea since 20 January 2025, a 13 minute cameo against Wolves, spending the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa. After only ten appearances for the Claret and Blue Army, he returned to the Blues, told to find a new club last summer, very much placed in the bomb squad alongside Raheem Sterling.
After failing to do so, he spent half a campaign in exile, before joined West Ham on loan in February, starting both of the Irons' Premier League fixtures subsequently. Thus, maybe, just maybe, Disasi will impress enough in East London to earn a permanent move away from Chelsea; they'll certainly hope so as his contract runs until 2029.