Chelsea saw Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leave the club on free transfers and could see more players in the same situation in the future.
Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic of Chelsea warm up (Image: Michael Regan)
There is no denying that Chelsea have been active in trying to establish a new group of players to take the club forward under Graham Potter. Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have helped drive the Blues to signing 14 players in addition to a number of young stars like Omari Hutchinson and Cesare Casadei for the Blues’ development squad.
Most of those players have been signed on long-term deals, leaving Chelsea with a strong position for any future negotiations or interest, as well as allowing them to amortise high transfer fees to help secure a healthy Financial Fair Play outlook. They have further secured the futures of the likes of Trevoh Chalobah and Reece James, though others have proved more problematic.
In the early months of the new ownership it was clear that the new hierarchy hoped to tie Mason Mount down to a longer deal. That has yet to transpire with the England international’s current deal set to run out in 2024.
The Blues now sit six months away from seeing the 24-year-old entering the final year of his deal and 12 months away from speaking to other clubs. In many ways their position in any negotiations will weaken, particularly with Chelsea’s current position in the Premier League.
Recent seasons have seen important players enter the final 12 months of their deals more regularly than in the past at Stamford Bridge. Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen eventually allowed their contracts to run down to complete moves to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, while Cesar Azpilicueta extended his deal late in the season and Thiago Silva added another year to his deal.
The Brazilian defender has been in the same position again this season with less than six months on his current deal alongside N’Golo Kante and Jorginho. It’s far from definitive that their futures lie immediately away from west London, but the opportunity to cash-in on players has already been and gone.
The sanctions placed on the club cannot be ignored in this manner. The Blues were unable to undertake any negotiations from March until the end of the season, while there was no shortage of complications and work to process during the takeover itself. In many respects the Blues were playing catch-up and still are.
The first months of 2023 will likely prove crucial in ensuring another crop of players do not enter the final year of their deals. In addition to Mount; Azpilicueta, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mateo Kovacic and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all have contracts set to expire in 2024.
That is a lot of futures to resolve whether it be at Chelsea or elsewhere and navigating a market where potential suitors will see the Blues’ position of being required to sell to earn some kind of compensation and to trim a bloated squad will add further pressures.
source: football.london
