‘Outrageous’ – The likely Chelsea exits, including £325,000-a-week striker and exit to devastate fans
Chelsea might not be able to stop signing players - but their squad is bigger than ever and someone needs to go.
With the new Premier League season fast approaching, only 25 players can be registered to take part, not including players under the age of 21.
Chelsea currently have 49 players on their books, all of whom have made an appearance for the first-team, so they will need to nearly trim the squad by half.
There are some players that the club are actively trying to force out while many are expected to leave on loan.
Young players such as Andrey Santos, Angelo Gabriel, David Datro Fofana, Cesare Casadei and Alex Matos are likely to be allowed to depart Stamford Bridge on loan to continue their development.
However, some other stars have been lingering around for some time without being in the club's plans and the Blues would be desperate for them to leave as soon as possible.
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Malang Sarr is already on the way out, having been picking up £100,000 a week but not even being given a kit number last season.
The Frenchman's contract is set to be 'ripped up' with a return to Ligue 1 on the horizon.
And he might not be the only one if Chelsea cannot find suitors for other players, with new boss Enzo Maresca walking into a fiasco, so who could be on the way out?
Romelu Lukaku
In what might be arguably the worst transfer in Premier League history, Chelsea are still desperately trying to offload Lukaku after a miserable return to the club.
The Blues forked out a club-record £97million for the Belgian in 2021, handing him a contract worth £375,000 a week that will expire in 2026, 10 years after his first move to the London outfit, but it all went wrong within months after a fallout with then-manager Thomas Tuchel.
The relationship with the club has never been fixed and just one year after signing, he was loaned back to Inter Milan before joining AS Roma last season.
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Napoli are interested in the striker, where he could reunite with Antonio Conte, who he won the league with at Inter in 2020/21 but no agreement has been reached yet.
Trevoh Chalobah
Despite being a fan favourite and arguably Chelsea's best defender last season, Chalobah looks set to be ousted from Stamford Bridge.
The 25-year-old has been left at home with the squad jetting off the United States for their pre-season tour in a bid by the club to force him out.
Chalobah has been at the club since he was eight, the decision has angered plenty of Chelsea fans who cannot believe they would treat a loyal servant in such a way.
"That is just outrageous," talkSPORT host and Blues fan Rory Jennings said of the decision to leave the academy graduate at home. "He deserves so much more respect than that," he added, pointing out he is speaking sentimentally.
"Remove sentiment, though, and Chalobah is the best centre half at the club and they're treating him like this all for money," he raged, adding his belief that Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile are nowhere near as good as him.
Many fans will have voted him the club's player of the year last season and Bayern Munich and West Ham have been credited with interest in the past.
Conor Gallagher
Another academy star who Chelsea are trying to offload, with his contract expiring next summer, despite fan protests over such a decision, echoed by club legends like Joe Cole.
Aston Villa and Tottenham have been linked with the midfielder, who was Chelsea's de facto captain last season after Reece James and Ben Chilwell's injuries.
talkSPORT understands Atletico Madrid are also keen on Gallagher but the England international is in no rush to decide on his future just yet.
It is putting Chelsea in a nervous position, as they do not want to lose the 24-year-old on a free transfer next summer.
Kepa Arrizabalaga
The Spaniard was signed in 2018 for a world record fee for a goalkeeper, joining for £72m on a seven-year contract but has never truly convinced at Stamford Bridge.
After the signings of Robert Sanchez and Dorde Petrovic last summer, it saw Kepa become third-choice and he was loaned out to Real Madrid, where he fell behind Andriy Lunin in the pecking order.
With reports breaking that Chelsea are keen on another goalkeeper this year, that would see the former Athletic Bilbao ace further away from the first team.
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There has been interest from Saudi Arabia for the 29-year-old, who is earning £150,000 a week at Stamford Bridge.
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