Summer fire sale: The 14 players free to leave Chelsea this summer after record winter spend

The Blues are set for another busy window this summer

Updated: July 03, 2023 at 8:18 pm GMT+1

Chelsea are ready to part ways with as many as 14 players this summer as they look to rebalance their bloated squad after a record spend across the last two transfer windows.

The Blues ended the January transfer window with the signing of Enzo Fernandez for a British record fee of £106m, with the Argentine becoming their 18th signing since the end of last season, with Christopher Nkunku having agreed to join the club in the summer from RB Leipzig, and it has taken their spending over 600m euros, more than the rest of European football combined.

It is not set to stop there, either, with the London Evening Standard reporting that they remain on the hunt for at least four new faces in the summer, with a goalkeeper, a striker, a midfielder and another centre-back on the agenda for the Stamford Bridge side.

Chelsea's Kai Havertz celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game with team-mate Benoit Badiashile during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, London. Picture date: Sunday January 15, 2023. 2M8RJDG Chelsea's Kai Havertz celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game with team-mate Benoit Badiashile during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, London. Picture date: Sunday January 15, 2023. (Alamy Stock Photo)

Currently, Graham Potter is working with a squad of 33 players, which would rise to 36 with Nkunku’s addition and four more signings (provided that Denis Zakaria and Joao Felix leave at the end of their loan spells), meaning that cuts are going to have to be made.

And, to that end, eight senior stars are thought to have been made available for sale, along with five more players currently out on loan.

“Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy head a group of players who could be sold”, it is reported.

Ziyech was on the verge of a loan move to PSG on deadline day, only for the deal to fall through, while Conor Gallagher was the subject of a £45m bid from Everton late in the January window too.

Perhaps strikingly, two of those already signed under Todd Boehly are free to leave, with Koulibaly in particular having underwhelmed since his summer arrival.

Meanwhile, several more could also depart, with Romelu Lukaku unlikely to continue after alienating the fanbase in his first season with the club, and the future of Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling remains up in the air.

It is added that “lower-value players out on loan like Ethan Ampadu, Dijon Sterling Malang Sarr, Xavier Simons and Tino Anjorin could also be sold”, while N’Golo Kante is no closer to signing a new contract at the club and is likely to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.