With the season over and the Euros not yet begun, all the focus has turned to transfers, and at Chelsea that means as much about sales as purchases.
There are various very conflicting reports about the state of our finances, but whoever you believe, it’s clear that some players will have to leave. How many of them, and by when, is the real question. There’s been a lot of chatter all year about the 30th of June, as that’s when the cutoff between this season and next season occurs in terms of the rules and regulations with regards to spending. So if last summer’s extravagance has left us in the red, it needs to be sorted out before July this year if we’re to avoid punishment.
That has led to a lot of discussion about pressure on us to make deals happen soon – but Ben Jacobs, someone who is particularly well connected at Chelsea, is saying that the club don’t see it as “particularly relevant,” in his piece for GiveMeSport today.
A strong position – or so we’re told
This may be because they’re confident of complying this year anyway, or it may be because they know the punishment for their breaches is likely to be insignificant anyway, so they’d rather hold out for a better fee on some of these sales.
“What’s more important is getting a healthy fee at any point this summer if Gallagher is to depart,” Jacobs explains.
Whether you’re pro or anti Gallagher sale, and most people are anti at this point, this is good news. The important thing is that if we’re forced into a sale (either by his contract situation or by our own foolish overspending) that we at the very least get what he is worth – with Jacobs saying we want a similar deal to the £50+5m we got for Mason Mount a year ago.
