Chelsea‘s heavy spending under their new ownership is proving a nightmare, with claims they will be forced to sell a top performer as new signings push to leave.
With over £1 billion spent and currently 12th in the Premier League, the Chelsea overhaul under the BlueCo consortium is playing out wonderfully for their rivals.
That was hammered home on Monday night as Jurgen Klopp jokingly referenced both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia opting to turn down Liverpool in favour of a move to Stamford Bridge, telling fans at an Anfield test event: “My god were we lucky!”
Chelsea are already under investigation after self-reporting overspending during the Roman Abramovich era, and it is deemed likely that they will face sanctions for those charges.
But the club are in further trouble on and off the pitch, with the Mail‘s Matt Hughes reporting that there is a belief within Chelsea that it would make “financial sense” to sell Conor Gallagher in January to avoid further spending breaches.
Gallagher, who was credited as a target for Liverpool over the summer but is unlikely to remain on the club’s shortlist, is nearing the final 18 months of his contract and, as an academy graduate, his sale would represent pure profit.
The 23-year-old has arguably, however, been the most consistent performer under Mauricio Pochettino this season, often wearing the captain’s armband.
It is explained that any sale of Gallagher would be to allow for further signings, with Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen named as targets to bolster a misfiring attack.
However, a further report from Sami Mokbel and Adrian Kajumba in the Mail suggests that Chelsea could be facing issues with a number of players who have only recently signed.
“Frustrations are extending to certain members of the squad, who are privately instructing their agents to seek moves away,” the report claims.
“Which is easier said than done given the long-term contract, eight years in some cases, that have been signed.”
Though there are no names named, there is already speculation that the likes of Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Noni Madueke, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Benoit Badiashile could be among those frustrated.
It is a situation that most saw coming when Chelsea, under co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly, circumvented spending rules to tie players down to ridiculous contracts.
Few may have expected it to unravel quite so quickly, but the logic behind committing so many players for so long is already being undermined if those players are not only underperforming, but also unhappy.
