Newcastle’s big win over Spurs was significant for Chelsea fans beyond just the enjoyment of watching your rivals get battered on a weekend where you’ve not got a game.
It also confirmed that the Magpies would finish above 15th, thereby activating the purchase clause in Lewis Hall’s loan deal, Fabrizio Romano explained in his exclusive column for Caught Offside.
The transfer insider noted that this first sale of the summer was “just the beginning” for a Chelsea squad which is going to have to shed close to £100m in terms of sales just to break even on their spending for the year. The club can still comply with both the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, and UEFA’s Financial Fair Play – but only if they make major moves before the June 30th accounting deadline that separates this season from next.
“This is just the beginning from Chelsea as they will also try to sell some other players in the next months,” he wrote.
“We’ll see soon about names, in the next weeks we should be more clear on the strategy and on the future of some key names like Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah.”
A major clear-out
Those in charge of choosing our direction as a club will be delighted that Hall’s departure is now locked in. They’ve been counting on it, and they’re counting on a few more departures.
The problem is that two of them – the same two that Romano mention above – are important players for Mauricio Pochettino. It feels like the plan at the end of the summer transfer window last year was to sell Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher at the earliest possible opportunity. What wasn’t clear then was that each would prove to be a vital player for Pochettino’s first team.
Ask any Chelsea fan for their team tonight and you’re likely to see both Chalobah and Gallagher in there. You don’t get better as a team by selling players who are at a prime age and established starters.
