Chelsea have far too many players and Enzo Maresca knows he needs to trim the squad. That could mean an opportunity for other Premier League clubs to pick up a player on the cheap. Here, we look at some Chelsea players who could be available before the deadline.
Shortly after the lineups were announced ahead of Chelsea’s home game against Manchester City on Sunday, Raheem Sterling’s representatives put out a statement questioning his exclusion from the matchday squad.
What exactly was said in that statement or whether it was right or wrong to release it isn’t what we’re here to discuss. All we want to take from it is what it says about the current situation at Chelsea.
If it wasn’t already obvious to you, Chelsea have too many players. Far, far too many. They have so many that it’s going to be impossible for new manager Enzo Maresca to give them all game time, which is going to mean a good few unhappy members of the squad.
Maresca knows as much and addressed the issue after he’d watched his team lose 2-0 to City – a game that was played to a backdrop of Chelsea discontent created by Sterling’s pre-game announcement.
“I want Raheem Sterling, but I want all the 30 players we have,” said Maresca. “But there is no space for all of them. So, for some of them, they have to leave.”
It would be a mistake for Maresca to go beyond the transfer deadline with so many players still at the club. Doing so would just make his job more difficult because he’d have players training to whom he could offer no game time at all.
That means there could be a fire sale at Stamford Bridge before the transfer window closes. At the time of writing, eight players have already left the club permanently this summer, and seven more have gone elsewhere on loan. There’ll be plenty more to follow.
As such, there could be value available for other Premier League clubs, much like Arsenal found to be the case in January 2023, when they caught wind that Jorginho wasn’t in Graham Potter’s plans. Mikel Arteta picked up an experienced midfielder who had won the Champions League and European Championship two years earlier for the cut price of just £12 million. The Italian has since become a very useful member of the Arsenal squad.
So, looking at who was involved for Chelsea on Sunday and the long, long list of players who were not, we’ve picked out some players who could prove a bargain buy ahead of next Friday’s transfer deadline.
Raheem Sterling
Let’s start with the very big elephant in the room. Sterling is obviously open to the possibility of leaving and Maresca made clear on Wedesnday afternoon that the winger isn’t in his plans, saying: “I told Raheem he’s going to struggle to get minutes with us. It’s better for [him] to leave.”
Sterling has been around for so long that some people probably think he could be past his best. Those same people would likely also be surprised to know that Sterling is still only 29 years old.
He also racked up 18 goal involvements in all competitions last season, averaging a goal or assist every 153 minutes despite Chelsea having a grossly underwhelming campaign. Sterling was actually one of few positives.
He has been a consistent performer at the top end of the Premier League for years, and has reached double figures for goals and assists in nine of the last 11 seasons, registering at least eight in the other two.
Sterling would also argue he is far from done. He is learning new tricks, having taken eight shots from direct free-kicks over the past four Premier League seasons, after attempting only two in his entire career before that previously. Having scored with two of his eight over the last four years, he also has the best free-kick shot conversion rate (25%) of anyone to have had more than five attempts.
There’s no question he is still a very good player who could be of interest to a number of Champions League-chasing clubs.
Ben Chilwell
If someone is willing to take a risk on Chilwell’s fitness, they could snag themselves a bargain.
Chelsea are ready to give up on him, though. The former Leicester left-back has missed a whopping 446 days due to illness and injury over the past three seasons, missing 100 games for club and country.
Maresca doesn’t have space in his squad to include anyone he can’t rely on to be fit, so Chilwell understandably has to go. If another club can keep him off the treatment table, he’d be a very good buy, and there is talk of interest from some of England’s other big clubs.
Axel Disasi
Disasi was first-choice for Chelsea last season, playing more Premier League minutes (2,581) than any other defender, and standing out for both his defensive game and his ability on the ball.
He won 69.1% of his aerial duels, the seventh-best rate of all Premier League players to compete in at least 100, while he also completed an impressive 90.6% of his passes.
He wasn’t conservative and safe with his passes, either. He ranked among the top defenders in the Premier League for the distance his passes moved the ball up field (towards the opposition’s goal), both on a per-90 basis (409 metres) and in total over the course of the whole season (11,732m).
Physical and technically adept, Disasi has plenty to offer, and could very easily end up at a team competing in the Champions League.
Carney Chukwuemeka
Another player who Maresca is unsure about because of his injury record, Chukwuemeka might find he is shipped out on loan in the next couple of weeks.
“Carney is a good player,” Maresca said after the City game. “The problem is, because of some injuries in the past, I think the best for him is to play 30 or 35 games in a row, to show himself that he is fit and how good he is. With us, is he going to play 35 games? I’m not sure.”
The 20-year-old obviously has his best years ahead of him, but having missed 237 days and 42 games with seven separate injuries since he signed two years ago, Maresca’s position is fairly understandable.
Reports have suggested that his wages are standing in the way of his exit, but it would be in everyone’s interests for him to play some football, and the manager is also keen for him to.
Trevoh Chalobah
A few years ago, it seemed as though Chalobah would be a mainstay at the heart of the Chelsea defence for years to come. His game time was increasing, he was liked by the fans having come through the academy at Chelsea, and he was proving versatile, comfortable in central defence in a back three or a back four and even at right-back, too. It now appears, however, he will soon enough be heading for the exit door.
He started only 10 Premier League games last season and now aged 25, he needs to be playing regularly if he is to make it at the level that he so obviously can. It’s become clear his future isn’t at his boyhood club, and with Chelsea so keen to get rid, he won’t cost as much as he might have a year ago.
Josh Acheampong
One of Chelsea’s most highly-rated youngsters, Acheampong was our pick for Chelsea in our recent article on which youngsters could have breakout seasons in the Premier League in 2024-25.
A talented centre-back, the 18-year-old made his first-team debut in May and would have gone into the summer hoping for more chances this season. However, the pathway to the first team at Stamford Bridge is being clogged up with the many, many big-money signings coming in, and in truth there is little chance that Acheampong will get any opportunities this season.
He shouldn’t be in any rush to jump ship, but recent talk of interest from Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain may well have him wondering if he should go looking for first-team football elsewhere.
David Datro Fofana
It has been 18 months since Fofana’s Chelsea debut and he has had so few chances that there is little reason to believe he has much future at the club.
His goal record has never been exceptional – he has 20 goals in 72 league appearances at four different European clubs – but on loan at Burnley for the second half of last season he showed what he can do at Premier League level.
He forges chances for himself with impressive consistency, able to beat a man and get a shot off. He averaged 1.5 successful dribbles per 90 for Burnley, and had 1.9 shots per 90, too.
His 0.46 non-penalty expected goals per 90 was the 16th-highest of all players to play at least 500 Premier League minutes last season, and the seventh-highest of those playing for teams to finish in the bottom half of the table. Of players at teams that finished in the bottom five, only Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood (0.59) averaged a higher non-penalty xG per 90 than Fofana.
The Ivorian certainly has a future in one of Europe’s major leagues.
The Rest
Take your pick from: Romelu Lukaku, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Deivid Washington, Cesare Casadei, Omari Kellyman, Tino Anjorin, Djordje Petrovic, Tyrique George and Ângelo Gabriel.
None of those players were in the squad for the Man City game, and could all be available for a transfer – or more likely a loan – this summer.
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