Mauricio Pochettino is ready to sanction a complete overhaul of the Chelsea squad which could see 15 players leave the club in the summer transfer window.
Pochettino will officially take over on July 1 after his two-year contract was announced on Monday. The former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain manager has a huge job on his hands after the Blues finished 12th in the Premier League on 44 points – their lowest total since 1987/88.
Chelsea have spent £600million on new players since Todd Boehly’s consortium took over from Roman Abramovich a year ago. But the disastrous nature of their business means the focus has now turned from recruitment to offloading unwanted players.
Pochettino has inherited a bloated squad which contains 33 players, as well as over 20 out on loan. The Argentine is therefore ready to take a ruthless approach to the rebuilding process, with the Daily Mail reporting that as many as 15 players are at risk.
Firstly, Chelsea are ready to let Joao Felix and Denis Zakaria return to their parent clubs following their loan spells at the club. Felix has impressed in patches since joining from Atletico Madrid in January, but Pochettino is not interested in making the move permanent.
“We've known for less than 24 hours. The Chelsea manager does not count on him,” Atleti president Enrique Cerezo said on Tuesday. “He will come back when his loan ends and we will see what happens. We do not have anything planned but he is an Atletico Madrid player.”
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Edouard Mendy and Callum Hudson-Odoi are expected to move on, with Chelsea seeking permanent transfers for the fringe group.
Aubameyang could return to Barcelona, Ziyech saw a move to Paris Saint-Germain collapse in January, Pulisic has been linked with a move to Italy, while Hudson-Odoi could move permanently to Germany after spending the season on loan with Bayer Leverkusen.
Mirror Football has reported that Pochettino wants to bring in a new goalkeeper and would allow Mendy to leave. Despite having a year left on his contract, Cesar Azpilicueta could move on after coming close to joining Barcelona last summer. The futures of Kalidou Koulibaly and N'Golo Kante are also unclear.
Meanwhile, there is transfer interest in Mateo Kovacic, Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Kovacic is about to enter the final year of his contract and has attracted interest from Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Manchester City.
Loftus-Cheek is being eyed by AC Milan, while Gallagher has attracted lots of attention from Premier League sides, including Crystal Palace.
The most interesting case concerns Mason Mount, who has a year left on his contract and has been edging towards the exit before Pochettino arrived. Liverpool and Manchester United are both interested in the 24-year-old, but Pochettino will try and convince him to stay put and become a key part of his youth-focused rebuild.
