Reports: Chelsea to sell James and Gallagher this summer
Chelsea are considering the sales of high-profile academy graduates Reece James and Conor Gallagher this summer to fend off concerns regarding Financial Fair Play.
The report comes from The Times, who maintain that the Blues are mulling over generating pure profit from offloading homegrown players. The BlueCo consortium are planning to raise about £100 million in revenue through the same process and in turn, balance the books heading into the next financial year.
And just like that, Chelsea could lose not just two outstanding players, but individuals who understand the club better than anyone else and are leader figures – with James the club captain and Gallagher having worn the armband more than any other player this season.
The Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules allow a club to endure losses of £105m over a period of three years. Nottingham Forest and Everton have already been hit with penalties, subject to respective appeals.
And given that the Blues have stuffed their dressing room with close to 20 new signings since the takeover, it’s imperative for them to continue trimming their squad. Unfortunately for the Cobham representatives, they’ll be down the firing line.
The likes of Ian Maatsen and Trevoh Chalobah are also in line to be sold come next season. Both James and Gallagher are valued at around £80m, while Maatsen and Chalobah could fall within the £35m-£40m region.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea side are floundering mid-table. The injuries around the club continue to rise despite the manager’s best efforts.
Over half of the new signings under Todd Boehly’s regime have been sidelined with long-term injuries, while players who were shipped in the summer, namely Christian Pulisic, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, are enjoying injury-free campaigns. There are underlying problems everywhere.
Pochettino said they would take it ‘week by week’, when asked if skipper James will feature again this season.
Should they be forced to sell their homegrown players, it wouldn’t send the right message to the young teens looking to make it to the top level for Chelsea. Every time the club is forced to take such decisions for reasons beyond football, the message sent isn’t necessarily positive.
As for performances on the field, Chelsea fluffed the lead twice against 10-man Burnley at home on the weekend. With merely 40 points from their 28 league matches played, they’ll look to muster a final push heading into the final few fixtures.
Manchester United travel to Stamford Bridge next on April 4th.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: James Boyes. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.