It’s almost exactly a week ago that the announcement came out that Mauricio Pochettino was being sacked by Chelsea, and since then that story has naturally dominated the headlines.
The fallout from his sacking, the reasons behind it and the chase for his successors have dominated the Chelsea news ever since. But there are other plotlines bubbling in the background which are set to resurface with a vengeance once Enzo Maresca is installed as his successor – any day now according to reports.
One that has a pressing time element is that of the 30th June Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) deadline. Any deals done before that count towards this season, any done after towards next. So if Chelsea are worried about their losses from last summer, they will need to squeeze in some sales ASAP.
New coach and old issues tied together
All of this ties together in the form of two players – Trevoh Chaloah and Conor Gallagher. According to everyone in the know, Chelsea’s plan has been to sell this pair of home grown stars to balance the books. Ideally, that would happen before June 30th.
That concept became increasingly difficult through the season as they became key players for Pochettino, and some of the exclusives after his sacking revealed that a factor in it was his disagreement with the sporting directors that these two regular first team starters for the Argentine should be sold off.
Now there’s a new man in place – a new Yes Man by the looks of things, and we will not be questioning anything that the men who picked him do, especially not at first and especially things which have already been planned for.
So those two – whose fate had seemed more uncertain as they earned their old coach’s trust – are now looking closer than ever to the door as the deadline closes in.