As we approach the start of pre-season, Chelsea have already conducted plenty of business in the summer transfer window.
The Blues' plan all along was to offload a whole host of players in order to trim down the squad for incoming head coach Mauricio Pochettino. Chelsea had such a poor 2022/23 season that this summer was always marked as significant to rebuild the squad, with the club aiming to get rid of ten-plus players over the course of the summer window.
It has been a good start in that respect. Chelsea have already offloaded five players and have received almost £150m in return. N'Golo Kante (free transfer), Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Mateo Kovacic and most recently, Kai Havertz, have all left the club in recent days.
The latter of the five, Havertz, is the most significant deal Chelsea have struck so far. Premier League rivals Arsenal have paid around £65m for the German's signature after the 24-year-old spent almost three years at Stamford Bridge.
Havertz won three major honours during his time at Chelsea - including the UEFA Champions League, where he scored that famous winning goal in Porto against Manchester City. The Blues, however, were never able to get the absolute best out of the Germany international and with two years remaining on his deal in west London, the club could not say no to the £65m they were offered.
Chelsea have pocketed a healthy sum of money for their departed players so far and the club are showing no sign of stopping there in terms of sales. Two more players are expected to finalise deals in the coming days and be officially announced.
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Hakim Ziyech is set to complete a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr in the very near future. Chelsea have agreed a £12m fee with the club, who also have Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks, and football.london understands Ziyech has already completed his medical ahead of the move.
The 30-year-old winger signed for Chelsea for around £35m in 2020 from Ajax and despite big expectations on his shoulders, the Moroccan has struggled with his consistency levels throughout his time at Stamford Bridge. Ziyech made just 18 appearances in the Premier League last season and has been desperate to move on from Chelsea for a while now.
Meanwhile, Ruben Loftus-Cheek is due in Milan today (Thursday) to complete his move to the Italian club, football.london understands. The 27-year-old will undergo a medical with the seven-time Champions League winners, AC Milan, in the next hours after Chelsea agreed an £18m fee for his services.
Loftus-Cheek has 12 months remaining on his contract so £18m is seen as a respectable fee for Chelsea to get for the midfielder. The Lewisham-born Cobham graduate has been with the club for almost 20 years and said an emotional goodbye on the last day of the season in May when he was brought off in the second-half in the draw against Newcastle United.
Milan are also interested in signing Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic, a source has told football.london. The American, like Loftus-Cheek, has just one year remaining on his deal at Stamford Bridge and is open to departing the club. Likewise, Chelsea are listening to offers for the former Borussia Dortmund attacker.
Player sales have been the main focus for Chelsea's transfer team thus far in this window. Once a few more deals are completed, though, and they are expected to be in the coming days, then focus will switch to incomings and Moises Caicedo in particular.
football.london understands Chelsea are expected to push for the Ecuador international this summer. The club have already verbally agreed personal terms with the 21-year-old but the main problem remains negotiating a fee with Brighton.
The Seagulls are demanding a fee in the region of £80m for his signature. Chelsea do not want to pay all of that in one go and will look for ways around doing that – for example, structuring the deal with add-ons and bonuses, like they have done for previous signings with Enzo Fernandez, Wesley Fofana and Mykhailo Mudryk.
