Chelsea are reportedly ready to sell as many as eight players in the summer to help fund new additions, with a striker earmarked as an expected arrival next season. The Blues slumped to a 1-0 defeat away to Arsenal on Sunday but still have a strong chance of securing Champions League football.
Landing a place in Europe’s premier competition brings with it the ability to attract the world’s best players, which has not been the case since Enzo Maresca arrived at Stamford Bridge. Instead the club’s ownership has stuck to a strategy of spending big on talents for the future, recently buying teenagers Geovany Quenda and Dario Essugo from Sporting for a combined £58.5million.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims that Chelsea will now work hard on outgoings before the summer window opens, with as many eight players up for sale in order to finance a move for a new striker.
Kepa Arrizabalaga and Axel Disasi, on loan at Bournemouth and Aston Villa respectively, were two players mentioned that the Blues would look to move on permanently and receive transfer fees for.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta described Chelsea as “the best attacking team in the Premier League… and by a mile” after keeping them to a blank at the Emirates on Sunday.
His comments certainly raised an eyebrow but only Liverpool and Manchester City have scored more league goals than Maresca’s outfit this season, even with star striker Nicolas Jackson out for the past month through injury.
Chelsea’s interest in signing a new striker has been widely documented ever since their public pursuit of Victor Osimhen two windows ago, with the likes of Alexander Isak, Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres all linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
Even though Jackson’s injury left Chelsea with just Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu as striker options, with Pedro Neto deputising in recent matches instead, Maresca insisted that he has no regrets that another forward was not brought in during January.
“I said after the West Ham game that the things that we planned in terms of players that had the desire to leave and the players that we need,” Maresca admitted once the window closed.
“In the end, I think we did all of the things we needed. Before the last game, we had two strikers, Nico and Marc. Sometimes we adapt also Christo [Nkunku] there, but in case both of them are out, we are going to find a different solution.”
However, Chelsea appear to be taking steps to add further firepower to Maresca’s arsenal, at the expense of as many as eight players who could be set to depart west London.