Due to the bloated size of the roster he inherited, Mauricio Pochettino is still trying to reduce it even though Chelsea have already sold or released 17 players this summer. The departure of numerous important players this summer has resulted in a significant transformation for the Blues. To allay their worries about Financial Fair Play, they have raised more than £230 million in the process. To get the group down to the ideal size, Pochettino still thinks there is work to be done.
Largely thanks to Todd Boehly’s huge £600m spending spree, Chelsea had 33 players in their first-team squad last season. That number had been cut down significantly after an exodus, with Chelsea needing to hit the reset button after their worst Premier League finish for 29 years.
Pochettino took a backseat when the likes of Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz were sold, but the Argentinian would have been consulted in allowing the trio to depart. Then the Saudi clubs swooped for Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly, although Hakim Ziyech’s move fell through.
Other fringe players have departed, while loanees such as Ian Maatsen, Bashir Humphreys and Levi Colwill have returned to fight for their place in the Chelsea first-team. Pochettino now has a squad of 29, and after taking charge of four pre-season matches, he is somewhat wiser to which players he wants to keep.
There are at least seven players expected to head out the door to complete Chelsea’s firesale, with as many as four new faces set to arrive. Moises Caicedo, Axel Disasi, Lesley Ugochukwu and Dusan Vlahovic could all arrive, but the Chelsea boss will need to make room for the quartet, with Pochettino describing the situation as a “mess”.
Chelsea have been desperately trying to offload Romelu Lukaku on a permanent deal after the £97.5m flop’s nightmare period back in west London. Inter Milan were locked in talks over a deal for the Belgian before he began discussing a move to Juventus, prompting the Nerazzurri to back out.
They could now entertain a swap deal that would see Lukaku head to Turin and Vlahovic sign for Chelsea, although it may require a cash payment from the west Londoners.
