Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca isn’t entirely satisfied with his squad just yet, despite having sealed deals for Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro for around £140 million already, with the tactician looking to strengthen one key area.
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The west Londoners have parted company.
UEFA are watching the west Londoners like a hawk right now, amid an agreement that Chelsea need to sell players and end the summer window with a positive balance sheet (Kaveh Solhekol).
The governing body fined Chelsea nearly £27 million last week for breaching FFP rules, and this could rise to north of £50 million if they fail to comply again over the next four years (BBC).
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Chelsea’s best performers in the Premier League last season |
Average match rating |
|---|---|
|
Cole Palmer |
7.33 |
|
Moises Caicedo |
7.02 |
|
Enzo Fernández |
6.95 |
|
Nicolas Jackson |
6.88 |
|
Noni Madueke |
6.82 |
|
via WhoScored |
|
BlueCo will therefore need to be very careful when it comes to green-lighting more signings before deadline day on September 1, but they have made some headway with regard to player sales.
Chelsea sold Kepa Arrizabalaga, Basir Humphreys and Marcus Bettinelli for a total fee of around £19 million, with Noni Madueke also about to join Arsenal in a £50 million deal and Djordje Petrovic on his way to Bournemouth for £25 million (Fabrizio Romano).
These departures, all in all, will accumulate £94 million, including their already-confirmed sales – and that’s not even counting Mathis Amougou’s permanent switch to Strasbourg.
Chelsea are also in the Club World Cup final, which has banked them £80 million worth of prize money.
It seems that Chelsea are actually doing a solid job when it comes to balancing their books, so we cannot rule out the possibility of further incomings just yet, and there are a host of other players who seem likely to be sold in the coming weeks – including Lesley Ugochukwu, João Félix, Renato Veiga, Christopher Nkunku, David Datro Fofana, Armando Broja, Axel Disasi, Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka.
Chelsea not out of Mike Maignan race with AC Milan star keen to join
If Chelsea can make room on their balance sheet, it is believed that AC Milan number one Mike Maignan is still firmly on their radar, coming after negotiations over a move for the Frenchman broke down earlier in the window.
That is according to journalist Graeme Bailey, who told TBR Football that Chelsea could still sign Maignan this summer, and the 29-year-old remains keen on a switch to Stamford Bridge with Maresca wanting a new number one.
“Max Allegri has talked about Mike Maignan staying on as captain, but that has little impact on the situation as he’s yet to sign a new contract yet, meaning he has one year left on his current deal. Chelsea are keeping close tabs on the Maignan situation,” said Bailey.
“We understand that he would like to go to Chelsea. Robert Sanchez was told earlier in the summer that he can go and they offered him to West Ham as part of the Mohammed Kudus deal.
“Enzo Maresca has made it very clear that he wants a new number one. He doesn’t like any of the current options. So yeah, we haven’t heard the end of Mike Maignan to Chelsea this summer, that’s for sure.”
Maignan has been described an “elite” goalkeeper, and it’s hard to argue with that verdict. If Chelsea wish to become genuine title contenders, they need a reliable ever-present between the sticks, and Maignan could be that man.
Given his contractual situation, Milan also won’t be able to demand too high a fee for his services – giving Chelsea a golden opportunity to add both pedigree and experience to Maresca’s backline.
