Chelsea’s summer plans have been thrown into chaos with claims as many as 10 players are considering their futures.
The Blues have endured a disastrous first season under the club’s new owners, despite spending around £600 million on transfers. Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter have both failed with the richly assembled squad, while interim boss Frank Lampard has lost four on the spin at the start of his reign.
With Chelsea languishing in the lower half of the Premier League table, and the chance of European football next season slim to none, there is set to be massive changes. In the dugout, Todd Boehly is continuing his search for a new long-term appointment, with Mauricio Pochettino understood to be leading the race.
And should the former Tottenham boss take the role, he will inherit a playing squad in a state of major transition. According to the Evening Standard, there is an acceptance that at least some players will need to be moved on as they come to grips with the financial hit of a season without the Champions League.
However, the report adds that a huge contingent of the dressing room are already in contact with their agents over potential summer exits. One player Chelsea desperately want to keep is Mason Mount, but with talks over a new deal at an impasse, Premier League rivals are queuing up to acquire his services.
The England international will only have 12 months remaining on his current deal by the time the transfer window ends and the likelihood of extending his stay continues to decrease.
Despite his precarious situation, the Blues are planning to play hardball and will demand around £70m for the academy graduate. It’s a similar story for Levi Colwill, who was sent out on loan to Brighton, but has plenty of admirers a his parent club.
After that, there are numerous stars mulling over their next move, including Kalidou Koulibaly and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The two were only signed last summer, but Koulibaly has struggled in his first season at Stamford Bridge, while Aubameyang has struggled to even make it on the pitch.
Conor Gallagher is another to have caught the attention of top-flight rivals and Chelsea would be willing to cash in to ease their FFP concerns. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic and Edouard Mendy are also named as players the ownership group are happy to sell.
N’Golo Kante is set to become a free agent at the end of the season, while Kai Havertz could seek pastures new if he can’t agree terms on a new deal.
Chelsea are keen to do the majority of their outgoing business before pre-season to ensure the new boss doesn’t have to deal with the same issues his predecessors have encountered.
Speaking at a private event at Stamford Bridge earlier this week, Boehly admitted he had made mistakes since fronting the consortium which spent £4.25 billion to takeover the club from Roman Abramovich. The American tycoon also addressed his vision for the future of the club after being confronted by angry supporters following last week’s dismal home defeat to Brighton.
Thiago Silva also hit out at the direction of the club and pointed to the issues that a large dressing room has had on morale behind closed doors. “We can't be blaming the managers if we don't take responsibility. It's a hard period for the club, with a lot of indecision,” he said after their Champions League elimination.
"Change of ownership, new players arriving – we had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn't fit the size of the squad. A positive point is that there are amazing players in the squad but on the other hand there are always players that are going to be unhappy.”
He added: "There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play. The manager can only pick 11 from a squad of 30-something – that's tough. Some can't make the squad, we signed eight in January, we need to stop and put a strategy in place otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes."
