Chelsea are still working hard on selling/loaning out players despite the pursuits of Romelu Lukaku and Jules Kounde.
As others have reported, Chelsea will step back up with their pursuit of Kounde once Lukaku has been officially confirmed, and he is a player they really want to bring in.
But even still as these have been going on, we could see quite a few more departures before the end of the window.
Players like Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Ross Barkley, Davide Zappacosta, Matt Miazga, Kenedy, Marcos Alonso, and Emerson Palmieri will all be allowed to leave Chelsea on permanent deals this summer but as things stand there is very little collective interest.
Barkley’s reps have spoken to a few clubs and had positive talks with Newcastle, but at the moment that is as far as that went.
Zappacosta and Emerson’s price tags were putting clubs off, but they both have decent interest.
Chelsea will want to keep hold of one of Emerson or Alonso though to be a backup for Ben Chilwell, so they have some negotiation powers there and won’t be desperate to sell.
Bakayoko has been speaking to AC Milan and Napoli, but right now there is nothing advanced.
Drinkwater could be a problem, with his high wages and very little interest as it stands, Chelsea could struggle to sell him.
Other than that, Tammy Abraham is wanted by Arsenal, Roma, and Atalanta. The latter is very unlikely, and Abraham prefers Arsenal, or at least to stay in the UK. That doesn’t rule out a move abroad entirely though.
Gianluca Di Marzio has reported that Chelsea have agreed a deal with Roma for Abraham to join on loan with an obligation to buy for 40 million euros, but Abraham is yet to agree to this move.
Armando Broja has joined Southampton on loan this season, great move for him.
Michy Batshuayi could have been an option to stay as a backup choice striker, but as I understand, Chelsea are still looking to sell him even if both Abraham and Broja leave, but there are a lack of buyer options as it stands. They might have to extend his contract and loan him again, which to be honest we could see happen for a number of the players mentioned above, like Drinkwater for example.
Dujon Sterling has yet to agree a new contract and we are not sure at this stage whether he will or not. But Chelsea are trying to get him to sign a new deal before sending him out on loan.
Trevoh Chalobah also looks set to leave on loan, but I am also told, and as reported elsewhere, Thomas Tuchel REALLY likes him and he was seriously looking at him/contemplating keeping him in the squad this summer. But it does look like he will depart on loan now.
Chelsea will still look to try and sell Kurt Zouma, but it doesn’t look like he will be going to Sevilla that is pretty clear now. He has interest from West Ham and Tottenham, amongst others.
I expect a lot of these to not be concluded until the latter stages of the window, as it what is normally the case for these types of situations.
Simon Phillips