Announcement soon as £110,000-per-week star agrees to leave Chelsea
The challenge facing Mauricio Pochettino and Todd Boehly is to reduce the size of their overly large Chelsea team, ideally by June 30.
Many people think Chelsea needs to sell players for £100 million by the conclusion of the current fiscal year in order to avoid PSR sanctions since their projected losses will exceed what teams are allowed to lose over a rolling three-year period.
During that period, they are only allowed to lose roughly £105 million, which Pochettino’s team will likely much surpass and may need to shed a number of players. The Blues have spent almost £1 billion since Clearlake Capital took possession in 2022, with almost £400 million of that amount coming from last summer alone.
Chelsea are alleged to have attempted to offset some of the losses through hotel sales to a sister company, but that is something which is unlikely to fly and is currently being investigated.
If found guilty, Chelsea face a 2024/2025 points deduction, with Everton, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City’s recent cases being a stern warning to Stamford Bridge chiefs.
In terms of who Chelsea could sell in their bid to balance the books, the west Londoners have an array of options. It is believed Conor Gallagher will be put up for sale this summer, alongside left-back Ian Maatsen, who is currently on loan at Borussia Dortmund.
Boehly will also be very keen to find a buyer for Romelu Lukaku, and the Middle East looks like a very tempting solution. Al-Ittihad have already held discussions over signing Lukaku, according to reports, and there are a few other members of Pochettino’s squad who could join the Belgian out of Chelsea’s exit door.
While veteran mainstay defender Thiago Silva would leave on a free, with his contract expiring this summer, Chelsea will still be saving a fair bit of cash on his £110,000-per-week wages.
Thiago Silva reaches agreement to leave Chelsea for Fluminense
According to GOAL Brasil this week, the 39-year-old’s future has now been decided ahead of this summer.
Silva won’t be extending his Chelsea stay for another year and has agreed to join Fluminense, having come to a verbal agreement with them. The Brazilian side hope to announce his capture “soon”, according to GOAL, which puts an end to Silva’s four-year-long stay in west London.
“It’s an amazing achievement physically. I played until 38 or 39 but the last couple of years in the MLS, I started to understand that my body was telling me not to do it anymore,” said Frank Lampard on Silva’s longevity as a defender.
“So to see someone at centre-back, which I think is probably the hardest position in terms of how you could get exposed at that age. He doesn’t get exposed because of the level of player he is, because of his quick thinking and understanding of the role and covering danger – it’s just amazing.”