Chelsea's squad exodus looks set to continue over the next few weeks as the hierarchy look to trim the side to a manageable size for new boss Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentinian head coach is set to begin working from July 1, with the Blues looking to bounce back from a disappointing season.
A 12th-placed finish in the Premier League as well as difficult runs in the cup competitions meant there was very little for fans to cheer about in the past year. A whole host of signings brought excitement, but only added to a lack of consistency within team selections and performances.
"Is there an issue with the balance of the squad? Maybe, yeah," interim manager Frank Lampard admitted towards the end of his tenure back at Stamford Bridge. The west London club can't afford to make the same mistakes and a whole number of exits could pave the way for better balance.
The first job of Pochettino has been to assess which players are part of the plans, with the likes of Joao Felix and Denis Zakaria heading back to their parent clubs from their loan spells. The Blues did make an attempt to keep hold of N'Golo Kante, but he confirmed a move on a free transfer to Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.
The midfielder doesn't appear to be the only Chelsea player set to make such a switch as Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have all be linked too. There's also the future of Hakim Ziyech, which looks all but confirmed to be playing for one of the state's newly backed clubs.
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According to Fabrizio Romano, the Moroccan international has reached a full verbal agreement with Al-Nassr over a deal to join them this summer. The deal is said to be last three-years, taking the forward to 2026, signalling an end to three-years with Chelsea after his move from Ajax.
The Blues are said to have an agreement between clubs completed, awaiting for the signing of contracts to take place before another deal is completed. It would see Ziyech join up with Cristiano Ronaldo as his new teammate at Al-Nassr, the first superstar to have made the switch to Saudi Arabia.
Ziyech certainly won't be the last either as the Blues continue to make a host of changes within the squad to make it ideal for Pochettino's arrival.
