Chelsea are currently undergoing a hectic last 13 days of the summer transfer window, as BlueCo attempt to agree a host of incomings and outgoings.
The west Londoners have balanced out their near-£280 million spend on new signings over the last few months with a major influx of cash.
Chelsea’s triumph at the Club World Cup yielded prize money of around £87.5 million, adding to their estimated £80m revenue from qualifying for the Champions League and £220 million raised through player sales.
Cash isn’t the issue when it comes to adding more new signings to Enzo Maresca’s squad before the deadline on September 1, but their pact with UEFA is.
Chelsea must produce a positive transfer balance by the end of the window, or they won’t be able to register new signings for their Champions League squad. This is part of the settlement Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital reached after Chelsea were found guilty of breaching FFP rules last month.
Simply put, the Blues must sell before they can buy right now. Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Renato Veiga, Axel Disasi, Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, Raheem Sterling, Alfie Gilchrist and potentially Tyrique George are all up for grabs from Chelsea, either on loan or permanently.
All the aforementioned players could join Kepa Arrizabalaga, Basir Humphreys, Noni Madueke, Marcus Bettinelli, Mathis Amougou, Djordje Petrovic, João Félix, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Armando Broja and Lesley Ugochukwu out the door.
Their success when it comes to trimming the squad will have a knock-on effect when it comes to Chelsea’s moves for Man United winger Alejandro Garnacho and RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons.
Chelsea have been in talks to sign both Simons and Garnacho over the last fortnight, and the attackers have already agreed personal terms on switches to Stamford Bridge.
However, as Chelsea attempt to get the likes of Jackson and Nkunku out to make space, it appears both men are in limbo right now and waiting to seal their desired moves to London.
Chelsea pledge to make official bid for Xavi Simons soon
Sky Germany have an intriguing update on this, and they reassure supporters that Chelsea’s move for Simons remains very much alive despite the delay.
The 22-year-old, who is Leipzig’s highest-ever paid player on a contract worth £192,000-per-week, has indeed already agreed personal terms to join Maresca’s side – and it is believed that Chelsea have promised to make an official offer to Simons’ club soon.
Sky give a timeframe as to when this transfer could start moving, and they estimate that the dominos will start falling into place after Leipzig’s Bundesliga opener against Bayern Munich on Friday.
The former PSG sensation is expected to play for Leipzig against Vincent Kompany’s German champions, and this could well act as a farewell game for Simons before his potentially imminent move to the Premier League.
It is set to be a very entertaining end to the summer for Chelsea, coming amid Maresca’s serious desire to sign a new centre-back as well, which he’s made public to the media in light of Levi Colwill’s ACL injury.