The futures of 13 Chelsea players are reportedly in doubt as the club look to trim down their bloated squad and look to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.
Chelsea have undertaken a barely believable spending spree since Todd Boehly’s takeover last year, splashing over £500 million in two transfer windows, including breaking the British transfer record to land Enzo Fernandez.
Despite their splurge, there have been very few outgoings from the Blues squad, with Jorginho the only notable departure in the January window.
Last year, prior to their £300 million January spend, Chelsea were one of 19 clubs placed on a UEFA Financial Fair Play watchlist, with the Times reporting last month that the Blues are ‘in danger of breaching FFP’ if they were to miss out on Champions League football.
Chelsea’s official website lists 31 first-team players among their ranks, and the club’s January spending and lack of departures will have only served to increase their wage bill which in 2021 stood at £331m.
It is clear that Chelsea will need to cut their squad in the summer, with the Telegraph reporting that the futures of 13 players is unknown.
Joao Felix said that he was loving life at Chelsea, but also admitted that his future at the club could be determined by the club’s ability to secure Champions League football for next season.
“We have a lot of games yet to try to reach the Champions League in the league. It’s not over,” he said at a press conference on Monday. “But, yeah, playing in the Champions League is an important decision, but the future no one knows, so let’s see what happens and then we’ll see.”
Meanwhile, the Telegraph report says that there ‘are doubts over the long-term futures’ of Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz, Edouard Mendy, Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah and on-loan Denis Zakaria.
Ziyech was close to sealing a January move to PSG, only for Chelsea to reportedly send the incorrect paperwork and for the deal to breakdown.
Academy graduate Mason Mount has been linked with a move to Liverpool having failed to agree terms on a contract extension, while Mateo Kovacic has been linked with Manchester City.
The report adds that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will ‘almost certainly leave’ Stamford Bridge after he was omitted from Chelsea’s Champions League squad, while Chelsea are ‘not yet sure’ if Inter Milan will keep Romelu Lukaku on loan for an additional season.
