Chelsea have launched the most expensive clear-out in English football history – and the £100 million they have recouped in a single day is just for starters.
After agreeing a £65million fee to sell striker Kai Havertz to Arsenal and a £30m deal with Treble winners Manchester City for midfielder Mateo Kovacic, the Blues confirmed N'Golo Kante will join Saudi club Al-Ittihad when his contract expires next week. In addition, Manchester United have made an improved £50m offer for England midfielder Mason Mount, whose deal at Stamford Bridge has only 12 months left to run.
And Chelsea misfits Romelu Lukaku, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Hakim Ziyech and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have all been linked with moves to the money-no-object Gulf state. Owner Todd Boehly signed off an astonishing £600m trolley dash in two transfer windows after his £4.5billion buy-out of oligarch Roman Abramovich last year.
But to comply with financial fair play rules, he is now playing supermarket sweep in reverse - rushing along the aisles to put unwanted purchases back on the shelves and claiming unprecedented refunds. Chelsea's addictive spending left them with a bloated squad, the Premier League's highest wage bill - £216m - and no trophies last season.
And the only new arrival under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino, France striker Christopher Nkunku, was lined up eight months ago. In a farewell interview on the club website, Kante said: “The day I joined Chelsea, I was told very early on that the objective is always to win trophies. Always.
“I’ve managed to do that and I’m so grateful for my coaches, my team-mates and the supporters for helping me achieve this. I’ve had so many good times at Chelsea but of course, winning the Champions League stands out. In fact, I’d say the latter stages of that journey as a whole was really special.”
Co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: ”N’Golo’s impact and influence during his time at Chelsea cannot be overstated. “His tireless performances in midfield contributed to several trophy wins and has guaranteed him a place in the club’s history. We wish him well as he embarks on the next chapter in his career.”
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With Havertz, Kovacic and Mount set to follow Kante out of the door, Chelsea are keen to include sales worth £150m their accounts for 2022-23 to fall in line with FFP constraints. And a shipment of players surplus to requirements following Kante to Saudi would also give Pochettino spending power to pursue his top target, Brighton's £100m-rated midfielder Moises Caicedo.
Moroccan winger Ziyech, who joined Chelsea for £33m in 2020, is understood to have agreed a move to Cristiano Ronaldo's club Al-Nassr for a cut-price fee of £8m. Mendy, another member of Chelsea's 2021 Champions League-winning side, cost £22m from Rennes in 2020. He is set to join Al-Ahli for around half that figure.
And just 12 months after leaving Napoli for Stamford Bridge in a £33m deal, Koulibaly is close to sealing a £16m move to Al-Hilal. Lukaku would prefer to stay at Inter Milan, where he spent last season on loan, and he is reluctant to join the exodus from SW6 to the Gulf.
But Chelsea are prepared to take a hit on their £97m flop to clear the decks for Poch Spice to rebuild the squad. By the time the clear-out is complete, Boehly is expected to have recouped at least a third of his outlandish splurge last year.
