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Who will exit Chelsea? How Blues could cut 41-man squadImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap cost Chelsea a combined £62m ByNizaar Kinsella
Chelsea are in the familiar position of having a large number of players on their books, with 41 senior players and only 25 days remaining in the transfer window to resolve the situation.
With no European football this campaign, new boss Xabi Alonso is keen to significantly reduce his squad – with a number of players either available for sale or on loan.
While the Blues can effectively register as many players as they want, despite the Premier League’s 25-man squad rule – with under-21 and homegrown regulations covering the vast majority of players on their books – the Spaniard knows having players not involved cannot be good for squad harmony.
But, even to get the squad down to a more manageable 25 senior players, Chelsea will need to offload 16 players by the start of September.
The Blues have had players stranded in a ‘bomb squad’ in the past, like Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi last season. That practice has since been outlawed by Fifa, increasing the importance of drastically reducing the squad.
Had Chelsea qualified for Europe they would have been at risk of being unable to register certain players, as was the case during their 2024-25 Conference League-winning campaign.
They are also bound by a Uefa settlement agreement for three more seasons, but European football’s governing body has acknowledged they have made efforts to improve their finances.
The Blues are accustomed to this level of player trading and are boosted by the fact they have largely built Alonso’s squad through the signings of Morgan Rogers, Marco Palestra, Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson and Maxence Lacroix, with full-back Pep Chavarria close to joining from Rayo Vallecano.
The size of the squad is an issue that needs addressing though. On Wednesday, they had 21 substitutes for their 1-0 defeat by Juventus in Hong Kong. Just five were academy players.
Chelsea were keen to carry a large squad into the final few days of their Asian tour. They face AC Milan in Indonesia on Saturday before taking on Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta’zim on Sunday and will likely field two different XIs.
But, it remains a remarkable number given both Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill were absent from the midweek match because of knocks sustained in the previous friendly, and striker Emmanuel Emegha is continuing his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury at the training ground.
There are also five players not even training with the first team: Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Marc Guiu, David Datro Fofana and Caleb Wiley. They are all available either for permanent or loan moves.
Seven players remain on holiday until next week having featured in the latter stages of the World Cup: Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Rogers, Henderson, Lacroix, Valentin Barco and Malo Gusto.
Defender Trevoh Chalobah is close to joining Como for £31m, including add-ons, while goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen is joining sister club Strasbourg on loan.
Chelsea are out of European football next season after finishing 10th in a campaign where Enzo Maresca left the club and Liam Rosenior was dismissed.
Alonso has some difficult decisions ahead.
His goalkeeping options appear set, with Robert Sanchez joined by exciting Belgian prospect Mike Penders, 21, following his impressive loan spell at French club Strasbourg, with with Teddy Sharman-Lowe likely to serve as the third-choice understudy.
At full-back, club captain Reece James, also capable of playing in midfield, is joined on the right by Gusto and Palestra.
Chelsea have put a £75m price tag on Gusto after Manchester City emerged as potential suitors.
On the left, Chelsea have Jorrel Hato and are close to completing the £16.3m signing of Chavarria.
At centre-back, Chelsea have nine players and Alonso has mentioned the group needs reducing to “four or five”.
Disasi and Badiashile are available for sale, while Mamadou Sarr is expected to depart on loan. That would leave new signing Lacroix competing with Levi Colwill, Josh Acheampong, Wesley Fofana and Tosin Adarabioyo.
It remains unclear what will happen with Argentina Under-20 international Aaron Anselmino, although another loan move appears likely having spent last term with Borussia Dortmund and Strasbourg.
In midfield Chelsea have put a £120m price tag on Fernandez, who is exploring his options, although the club would also be happy to keep him.
He is joined by fellow key central midfielder Moises Caicedo, fit-again Romeo Lavia, new signing Barco, who can play a number of positions in that area, Henderson and Dario Essugo.
Essugo, 21, was previously told he would be staying but is open to a loan move because of his need for regular football after an injury-hit campaign.
In attack, the shock return of Mykhailo Mudryk is another situation Chelsea must manage.
The club insist all options remain open and are assessing his fitness following his return after 20 months out, because of a suspension relating to a positive test for the banned substance meldonium.
Jamie Gittens is another option on the left wing, while Pedro Neto and new arrival Geovany Quenda are primarily right-sided players. Cole Palmer and Rogers are the two number 10s.
Chelsea would also like to have three strikers going into next season. Alongside Joao Pedro and summer signing Welbeck, one further forward is likely to remain in the squad.
That looks likely to be Emegha, although there remains uncertainty given Chelsea also have Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap on their books.
There is some overlap but, from information gathered by BBC Sport to date, this is the best projection of what Chelsea’s squad could look like.
Projected Chelsea squad: Sanchez, Penders, Sharman-Lowe, James, Palestra, Tosin, Fofana, Lacroix, Acheampong, Colwill, Hato, Chavarria, Caicedo, Fernandez, Barco, Lavia, Henderson, Quenda, Neto, Palmer, Estevao, Rogers, Gittens, Emegha, Joao Pedro, Welbeck.
Available for loan: Guiu, Wiley, Kellyman, Mheuka, Walsh, Kavuma-McQueen, Kendry Paez.
Available for sale/uncertain futures, with desired fees for some players in brackets: Badiashile (£30m), Disasi (£25m), Guiu (£25m), Datro Fofana, Delap, Jackson (£65m), Slonina, Gusto (£75m), Fernandez (£120m), Emegha, Neto, Essugo.
Chelsea have been stockpiling players for more than a decade, dating back to former owner Roman Abramovich’s reign.
Under Abramovich, they had as many as 42 players out on loan before Fifa introduced limits designed to curb the practice.
However, since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took charge in 2022 Chelsea have acquired Strasbourg, adding to the growing number of multi-club ownership models across Europe.
They also embarked on a strategy of signing younger players on lower wages, who can be moved in and out as required.
Among those signings was midfielder Andrey Santos, who arrived for £12m after a season in Brazil’s second division before being sold to Manchester United for £50m.
Chelsea have spent £1.8bn on acquiring talent since BlueCo took over the club four years ago, comfortably more than any other club in Europe.
However, they have also raised nearly £1bn through player sales, including a Premier League record £300m, again the highest figure in Europe during that period.
Chelsea are expected to make a similar number of sales this summer, with Chalobah’s move to Como taking their total beyond £150m and Alejandro Garnacho’s loan move to Aston Villa including an obligation to buy set to be worth about £40m next summer.
They have the lowest revenues among the traditional ‘big six’ clubs.
That is largely because of the size of Stamford Bridge, commercial underperformance, a kit deal with Adidas that has not kept pace with rivals, the absence of a front-of-shirt sponsor and missing out on Champions League football in three of the past four seasons.
It is player trading that makes up much of that shortfall, in much the same way as it does for Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth, albeit with loftier ambitions of winning trophies and qualifying for the Champions League.
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