The Athletic’s Transfer Deal Sheet is becoming compulsory weekly reading – especially if you’re a Chelsea fan. These are about to be two of the busiest weeks we can remember in terms of comings and goings at the club – and that’s really saying something given how the last few years have gone.
The arrival of Joao Felix means we suspect the Blues will be left with just one major target yet to be signed – another striker. Of course that won’t stop them compulsively hoovering up a few talented youngsters too, but that hardly counts.
But it’s in the outgoing column where things are going to get really interesting. The teamsheet for our opening game of the season on Sunday saw both Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling left out entirely, and we all saw the chaos that has caused already, as Sterling’s camp released an unhappy missive.
“Chelsea are working on solutions to Sterling’s and Ben Chilwell’s situations. Both were omitted by Maresca from the squad against Manchester City on Sunday. The duo are on high wages and Chelsea are open to selling them,” the Athletic wrote.
It’s £500k a week between them, so one can see why the club wants them out – but it won’t be that easy.
Chelsea undermine their own position with squad decisions
Of course the irony is that, even if Chelsea want to sell these guys, leaving them out of the squad only hurts their bargaining position. The idea is that it sends the message very clearly to the player that they’re not wanted (if they didn’t get that impression already), but it also sends that same message to every other club who might be interested.
It’s a calculated risk of course, but right now we don’t see who is going to offer the pair the wages needed to get them to leave, let along offer us the fees we may want.