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Football London
Football London
Sport
Daniel Childs

Todd Boehly forgotten £39m deadline day Chelsea trick has vindicated Romelu Lukaku judgement

Timo Werner, Emerson, Romelu Lukaku, Malang Sarr, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen, Matt Miazga, Jake Clarke-Salter, Levi Colwill, Charly Musonda Jr, Dujon Sterling, Baba Rahman, Ross Barkley, Ethan Ampadu, Danny Drinkwater and Marcos Alonso and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Those are the list of players who have left Chelsea either permanently, on loan, or ended their contracts with the club at the time of writing.

This group could still be added to by the time you read this. Billy Gilmour is reportedly close to a deadline day transfer move to Brighton for £9m, whilst the likes of Michy Batshuayi have still not found a new destination despite an expectation he would depart.

READ MORE: Chelsea act quickly on deadline day as transfer agreed to sign their own Paul Pogba

This area of transfer dealings is always the least intriguing for onlookers. Not bringing the dopamine hit of a new transfer, but for Todd Boehly, this could be the part of his business that deserves the most credit.

In recent years Chelsea have proved pretty poor at letting go of players who have no tangible future at the club. The season loans for Hudson-Odoi, Colwill and Ampadu probably fall into a different bracket: players who could still offer value in the future.

But the likes of Emerson, Sarr, Miazga, Clarke-Salter and Barkley all feel like a refreshing switch from the years of contract renewals and forgettable loans as their values depreciate even further. Boehly clearly has taken a different view.

In the most extreme case of shedding unwanted players, terminating the contract of Barkley felt like a far-fetched theory 12 months ago but could be replicated with Batshuayi in a similar boat.

Selling well and smartly is going to become more important than it was under Roman Abramovich's ownership when players were stockpiled on high wages but without much stress due to the unrelenting investment coming in.

Although Boehly has broken the record for a transfer spend within his first window, this is unlikely to become an annual occurrence, and if it does, something has gone horribly wrong.

Chelsea have had a bloated, jumbled and inconsistent squad filled with players who served short-term purposes in different regimes, some barely even offering that. The need for refinement and decisiveness has been long overdue on several players.

The sales of Emerson, Alonso and Werner all reflect a better judgement over the health of the squad, selling those who might have been kept due to fears of being perceived to 'lose' in a negotiation.

Something previous director Marina Granvoskaia was reported as prioritising in her dealings. Not an awful approach, but one you felt halted the transition this squad needed with hangers-on kept around.

TransferMarkt estimates the total sum gained from this summer's departures is just over £39m, not close to the £90m Chelsea gained last summer after selling desired academy talent, but that figure does not take into account the high wages that are no longer on Chelsea's books.

Boehly sanctioning a loan for Romelu Lukaku back to Inter Milan felt like a telling moment for how this window was going to go. It was a firm backing for Thomas Tuchel's ideals, something further demonstrated in the signings acquired for a vast expense.

But this window, without a sporting director, signals that this new regime isn't afraid to cut their losses, which should be welcomed positively.

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