Chelsea told to sell three players for £110m amid claims they’ve been ‘spooked’ by points deductions

Joe Williams
Chelsea duo Trevoh Chalobah and Armando Broja
Trevoh Chalobah and Armando Broja could both leave in the summer.

A former Manchester City financial advisor has told Chelsea which three players they need to prioritise selling this summer amid FFP worries.

The Blues have spent around £1billion since a Todd Boehly-led consortium took over the Premier League club in May 2022 with Chelsea buying some of the best young talents in world football.

Chelsea need to raise over £100m this summer

However, so far it has not worked out with Chelsea finishing last season in 12th place while Mauricio Pochettino’s side are currently 11th this campaign.

And there are reports that the current squad may have to be broken up with Chelsea needing to raise £100m over the summer to avoid breaking Financial Fair Play rules.

Everton and Nottingham Forest have been hit by points deductions this season after being charged with breaking the Premier League’s FFP rules and football finance expert expects a stronger punishment for Chelsea if they have broken the rules.

“Possibly more severe,” Borson said on talkSPORT.

READ MORE: What the FFP is going on? Man City ‘expulsion’, Chelsea wait, Everton PSR fight, Forest appeal and Leicester?

“I think the scale of the losses they’re currently forecasting, to me, appear to be vastly in excess of both Everton and Nottingham Forest.”

Borson added: “There was an assumption with Mason Mount, because he was announced on Manchester United’s website on July 1 that [his sale] had been put into this current season.

“So the £55m of profit was in this season. It now transpires that Mason Mount appears to have been transacted in 2022/23 and that is how they got through.”

When suggested to Borson that Chelsea would now have a £55m hole to fill in their finances, he continued: “Correct.

“Because we also know from the BlueCo accounts that they are currently, from the post-balance sheet events, that they are something like £48m in profit for this year.

“But of course, this year from an operating perspective, is going to be even worse than last year because they’ve got no Champions League and no Europe at all.”

Borson is convinced they will have to sell a number of players to comply with FFP rules and he has suggested the three academy products they made need to move on.

The football finance expert said: “Really, they have to find buyers for Trevoh Chalobah for £20m, Armando Broja for £40m, and Conor Gallagher for £50m.

“It’s those sort of deals that need to be done. And by the way, they all need to be done by June 30. That, as we know, is articulated within the Forest decision.

“There’s a whole conversation about how hard it is to sell players in the period before June. The Premier League actually suggested that more or less that it was impossible.”

Have Chelsea been spooked by the points deductions?

Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness reckons Chelsea are now “worried” about the Premier League after watching them deduct points from Everton and Nottingham Forest.

Wyness told Football Insider: “The one thing the points deductions for Everton and Forest have done is spook the other clubs. They’ve seen the Premier League take action.

“Clubs like Chelsea are now worried about the lunatic loose with a gun, if you like. That’s the Premier League. Chelsea will be worried.

“If they’re going to avoid a breach, they’ll have to sell the younger talent.

“We’ve spoken about Saudi, but I think it’ll be hard to convince the younger talent to go there. It’ll be the likes of Lukaku going out there.

“That won’t necessarily give Chelsea the value they need out of the home-grown talent, such as Gallagher.”