Player now “set to leave Chelsea” with Saudi approach made

Chelsea are poised to let another player depart Stamford Bridge this summer amid their mission to trim Enzo Maresca’s bloated books.

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The west Londoners are contemplating unofficial swap deals.

Financially, they’re in a strong position after winning the Club World Cup, with their tournament victory yieldin £87.5 million in prize money. This, combined with the exits of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Basir Humphreys, Noni Madueke, Marcus Bettinelli and Djordje Petrovic for an estimated £96 million, means Chelsea are currently in line to sail well under the PSR threshold for next year as things stand.

However, UEFA struck an agreement with the Blues recently after their fine for breaching FFP rules – sell players to balance out the squad or face an inability to register new signings for next season’s Champions League (Kaveh Solhekol).

A host of Chelsea players could still leave the club before deadline day on September 1, with Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Renato Veiga, Axel Disasi, Carney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Christopher Nkunku, João Félix and even Nicolas Jackson all potentially up for sale by BlueCo, according to recent reports.

Another squad member who’s now far more likely than not to depart Cobham in the coming weeks is boyhood Chelsea supporter Alfie Gilchrist.

The 21-year-old spent last season on loan at Sheffield United and was a regular under ex-Blades boss Chris Wilder for a portion of the campaign, before first-team action became harder to come by, partly due to injury.

Alfie Gilchrist “set to leave Chelsea” with Saudi approach made

According to journalist Ben Jacobs, Gilchrist’s exit appears to be a forgone conclusion, and he’s attracting interest from both Championship sides and clubs in the Saudi Pro League.

In truth, it is quite a disappointing end to his Chelsea career, but competition in Maresca’s squad is fierce and Gilchrist quite simply needs a new chapter to further his own career.

Chelsea legend John Terry once tipped the Englishman for “big things” after he made his senior debut for the club in 2023, later praising his ferocious work rate in an interview with The Mail.

“Literally from the first training session in which I saw him, he reminded me of myself,” Terry said.

“He was keen to learn, asking me questions about defending and constantly picking my brains over what I would do in different situations.

“And he’s 100 per cent in everything he does. Whether that’s the warm-up to get him going, he’s all-in. You don’t ever want to take that away. Even on his recovery days, he’s 100 miles per hour.

“As he gets older, he’ll understand how to manage that and how to be. But it’s a great trait to have for a young player and it can certainly set you apart.

‘If you’re at Chelsea, you’ve got great ability in the first place to be there. But it’s really important for younger players to have that mentality and Alfie had that in abundance even from an early age.”