Chelsea could be in store for another mass exodus after one founding member of their ownership group admitted that there were plans to slash the club’s budget by as much as £80million. Todd Boehly and co have not been afraid to spend big since taking over at Stamford Bridge, but it appears that several players could be on the chopping block with cutbacks deemed necessary.
One member of Chelsea’s co-owners, Clearlake, wants to slash the Blues’ overal expenditure by £80m after a huge spending spree since the consortium took over from Roman Abramovich last year, with as many as 13 senior members of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad eyed as potential sales.
This is despite Chelsea reportedly partnering with US alternative asset management firm Ares Management, who are set to provide a £404m cash injection into the club. But Clearlake co-founder Jose Feliciano outlined the next steps for the Blues, which involves substantial cuts.
“We have bought an asset that is very coveted by many other potential buyers,” said Feliciano at the IPEM private equity conference. “Ultimately, we are extremely aligned with that supporter and fan base because the best way to make our club more valuable is to win. The team had a tough first season, our first season. We have a tremendous amount of talent.”
He added: “I think what we are trying to do is reduce the salary and essentially the opex [operating expenses] of the business by over $100m (£80.6m) per year.”
Though not all of the £80m cutbacks will come via the squad’s wage bill, a substantial amount is likely to be reduced while as many as five stars could be sold which would trim around £40m – half of Feliciano’s target.
Romelu Lukaku could depart despite previous struggles to offload the striker, as he has already taken a cut from his £16.9m-a-year salary – per Sportrac – having been deemed surplus to requirements by Pochettino. He is spending the year on loan at Roma, but a permanent exit is likely and he could be one of the first names to be let go.
Another big-money signing that has not worked out for Chelsea is Marc Cucurella, while he and his £9.1m yearly wage could leave despite a late summer loan to Manchester United falling through. When the January window opens it is likely that he will be searching for a new club, as Ben Chilwell and Levi Colwill have been preferred at left-back.
Centre-backs Malang Sarr and Trevoh Chalobah earn a combined £8.8m a year but with neither defender making an appearance for Chelsea so far this season, they may be shown the door in January.
While Hakim Ziyech is currently out on loan at Galatasaray but Chelsea will be keen to offload him permanently, despite Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr opting against signing him due to injury concerns discovered in his medical – but the Blues will want his £5.2m salary off the books as he could help Feliciano and co trim the wage bill.
