ESPN are reporting that Christian Pulisic is set to leave Chelsea this summer as part of a “radical overhaul” of their squad.
It’s almost inevitable that some players will leave, after the Blues spent so lavishly on wingers in January. Pulisic is out injured now, but when he’s back he’s unlikely to get too many chances to play. He will likely sit alongside Hakim Ziyech on the bench, watching Noni Madueke, Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling and Joao Felix play.
With just 18 months left on his contract, Chelsea have apparently accepted they’re going to make a major loss on the €64m they spent on the USA star in 2019.
Also mentioned as being available for sale (some more surprising than others) are Callum Hudson-Odoi, Kalidou Koulibaly and Mateo Kovacic. Romelu Lukaku looks likely to stay another year at Inter if a deal can be agreed, while Mason Mount and N’Golo Kante are jammed in contract talks.
Please include Mason mount on that list.
If they can contribute to winning matches (and, when healthy, both Ziyech and Pulisic can), Chelsea would be well advised to at least bring them on as substitutes. Otherwise, they’ll only be suppressing their transfer value. Both players featured well at the WC, but those memories will fade by summer and one can easily imagine the club losing upwards of 10 million in combined transfer fees if these guys are left “sitting on the shelf” for the next several months. Just as shipping Jorginho (for something rather than losing him in summer for nothing) was good business, de-valuing two guys everyone knows you want to sell would be bad business (assuming they are healthy and able to contribute).