The end of the Premier League season is fast approaching, and with it will quickly come the transfer window. As things stand, Chelsea cannot complete any transfers or offer new contracts under the terms of the special operating licencing afforded to them by the government to continue operations when Roman Abramovich was sanctioned.
The ownership situation will hopefully have resolved itself by the end of the month, even with Sir Jim Ratcliffe's late bid for the club. Todd Boehly's consortium has progressed to a period of exclusivity and appears confident the takeover will progress, even with the looming deadline.
The volume and status of players heading out of contract this summer dominated Chelsea's narratives this season even before sanctions were placed on the club. With a solid backline of Thiago Silva, Cesar Azpilicueta, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen all entering 2021/22 in the final year of their respective deals. For the most part, they have been resolved for better or for worse. They are not the only players who could be departing the club this summer, with the possibility of a noticeable turnover at the club, football.london takes a look at some of the figures that could depart Stamford Bridge.
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Out of contract
While Rudiger's departure from Chelsea has already been confirmed with Real Madrid the prime candidate and Christensen widely expected to join him in La Liga, the Blues' sanctions have also left many of their younger stars in limbo.
There's no guarantee that any of these players would have seen their contract extended in recent weeks, but the club have generally operated with a preference of extensive loans or sales. Josh Brooking, Sam McClelland, George McEachran, Dion Rankine, Xavier Simons and Thierno Ballo from Chelsea's development squad all appear to have contracts set to expire in the summer.
A number of those players have been involved in first-team training sessions, with Simons even earning the experience and exposure of playing against Brentford in the Carabao Cup back in December. Its possible deals could be offered when sanctions are lifted, but much like Rudiger, the Blues could be harmed by their inability to be active.
On loan trio, Jake Clarke-Salter, Danny Drinkwater and Ethan Wady are also entering the final weeks of their deals, with the former two in particular unlikely to see a future within the first team set up and set to depart. Reports of Coventry offering Clarke-Salter a contract have already emerged in recent months.
Saul Niguez is also unlikely to see his loan deal made permanent after a season in which he struggled to make an impact.
Future lies elsewhere
It will be a big summer for Marcos Alonso and Ross Barkley, who have deals set to expire in 2023 and may already see their future elsewhere. The latter has struggled to earn minutes throughout this season, particularly in 2022, and there is little to no chance of him having a significant presence in the first-team squad, despite his continued efforts in training.
Alonso will be free to depart Chelsea if an acceptable bid is received. Given Emerson Palmieri's season-long loan at Lyon, it feels like he could be in a similar situation.
Reports have also been aplenty over the futures of Romelu Lukaku and Christian Pulisic, with the American's father recently seeming to make clear the former Dortmund winger's frustrations. Chelsea's record signing may be difficult to offload given the expense the Blues went through to land him - a problem seen in recent seasons with Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spaniard could depart this summer but would still be required to take a pay cut and the Blues a substantial loss.
Despite the Blues activating an extension in Azpilicueta's contract, his future is also not guaranteed to be in west London next season. Barcelona will hope they can still agree to a deal.
Contracts expiring in 2023
It's not a shortlist of players whose contracts expire in the summer of 2023 across the first and development team, that includes a decent chunk of Chelsea's current loan army.
Alonso, Jorginho, Silva, Barkley, Kenedy, N'Golo Kante, Marcus Bettinelli, Michy Batshuayi, Nathan Baxter, Juan Castillo, Jamie Cumming, Bryan Fiabema, Billy Gilmour, Henry Lawrence, Matt Miazga, Baba Rahman, Dujon Sterling, Sami Tlemcani, Karlo Ziger, Alfie Gilchrist, Brodi Hughes, Bashir Humphreys, Xavier Mbuyamba, Joe Haigh, Harvey Vale, Charlie Webster, George Nunn, Jude Soonsup-Bell and Jayden Wareham all have deals expiring in 2023 as things stand.
Thomas Tuchel has already said that he does not want to see the situation that arose this season return with Kante and Jorginho despite their qualities. The Italian, in particular, has often been linked to a transfer away from Stamford Bridge, with Juventus a potential destination.
However, there are several futures that the Blues would be minded to resolve, with a number of young goalkeepers among that number - though it is not uncommon to see development squad players have their contracts extended when loans are agreed.
However, young starlets Vale, Webster and Soonsup-Bell would ideally not be found winding down into their final year with so much potential on offer. With or without the sanctions, it is not an ideal position for the Blues to find themselves in, given the recent departures of the likes of Tino Livramento and Marc Guehi.
