Chelsea has undoubtedly received plenty of attention regarding transfers in recent years. After all, the club has spent around $1.4 billion on a plethora of new players since new ownership came aboard in 2022.
Not only have the Blues overhauled their roster in just two years, but they bloated it to include over 40 players earlier this summer.
The precarious situation came to a head in August when new head coach Enzo Maresca addressed the issue.
However, instead of easing concerns regarding his roster, the coach made matters worse. Maresca claimed that he was not even working with around 20 players in the team.
Not only did the Italian exile the players from regular training but he also essentially labeled the group as unwanted.
Nearly every club typically has to deal with similar situations during the summer months. Nevertheless, Maresca’s public comments about the undesired players basically devalued them in the transfer market.
Chelsea’s sale of unwanted stars struggled
Chelsea entered the summer window’s final days, looking to offload several stars. However, the Blues only sold two players on permanent deals following Maresca’s comments.
One of these moves, Romelu Lukaku’s switch to Napoli, was previously in the works for most of the summer.
Chelsea had been demanding around $44 million for the Belgian star striker throughout the window. Napoli remained adamant that they would not meet these demands. In the end, the Blues caved and sanctioned the sale of Lukaku for $33 million.
The other permanent deal during this timeframe involved teen prospect Angelo Gabriel. Chelsea previously purchased the phenom for about $17 million in 2023 and sent him out on loan for the 2023/24 season. The Blues then sold Angelo to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr earlier this month in a deal worth $25 million.
Several loan deals also not financially friendly to club
Along with these two moves, Chelsea also sent several players…
Source link : https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/chelseas-sale-of-unwanted-stars-harmed-by-coachs-comments/
Author : Chris Moore
Publish date : 2024-09-14 15:55:39
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