Chelsea target midfield quartet as Todd Boehly hopes to make £200m from six homegrown sales
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly reportedly wants to make £200m through the sales of six homegrown players this summer, with a further six Blues stars set to be up for grabs, as they look to raise funds for a new central midfielder.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to become Chelsea’s new permanent manager in the summer, with just the finer points of his contract being ironed out, and one of his first tasks will be to reduce the size of bulging squad at Stamford Bridge.
Several homegrown Chelsea stars face uncertain futures with the sale of academy graduates a big help with the club’s finances, as they would represent pure profit under the new version of UEFA’s financial sustainability rules.
The Evening Standard claim Chelsea could sell Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah to generate £200m.
It’s claimed both Loftus-Cheek and Gallagher were made available for transfer late in the January transfer, with the latter refusing a £45m to Everton after being blocked from talking to Newcastle due to their status as rivals for Europe.
Chelsea are particularly keen to be rid of Loftus-Cheek, with Milan interested in the 27-year-old, though he would have to reduce his £150,000-a-week wages to move to the San Siro.
With Mount another potential midfield departure, as Chelsea’s rivals queue up to sign him, the Blues bosses have drawn up a shortlist of new central midfielders.
Declan Rice remains among their targets despite Arsenal now being the clear frontrunners for the West Ham captain.
Chelsea are also keen Borussia Monchengladbach’s Manu Kone and Sporting Lisbon star Manuel Ugarte, while reports suggest the club has been in ‘talks’ with Southampton teenager Romeo Lavia for the last couple of months.
Along with that list of six homegrown players put up for transfer, Mateo Kovacic, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly will also be made available for sale this summer.
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