- 9 hours ago
Chelsea BAN first-team trio
Robin Bairner
- 10 Aug 2024 19:48 BST
- 4 min read
Chelsea are stepping up their attempts to make player sales by barring three first-team stars from training with the senior team.
Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja and Trevoh Chalobah have all been prevented from working with Enzo Maresca’s main group and are working with the U21s, according to the Daily Telegraph, which indicates that Chalobah is not being allowed to use the first-team facilities.
The three are among the players that the Blues are most eager to sell before the end of the transfer window as they seek to thin out the Italian’s gigantic squad.
READ MORE: How Chelsea will line up with Pedro Neto
Current ETV
Trevoh Chalobah
D (CR)
Chelsea
Trevoh Chalobah
D (CR)
Chelsea
ETV Range
€14.7M - €24.4M
There is a further motive to this, too. Player sales could yet fund more transfer activity, and while a deal with Atletico Madrid is expected to be brokered imminently to sign striker Samu Omorodion, there is still hope at Stamford Bridge that they might also complete a blockbuster move for Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. This hinges on big player sales.
The Telegraph states: "Other than training with Chelsea’s development squad, Chalobah has been kept away from the first-team building at the club’s Cobham training base.
"That means Chalobah, who joined Chelsea at the age of eight, must spend his time away from the club’s first-team squad in the academy building until he agrees to a move away from the club.
READ MORE: Latest Chelsea transfer rumours
"He has not been seen in the first-team dressing room or at lunch since Chelsea returned from their pre-season tour of the United States, which Chalobah was left at home for.
"Another academy graduate, Armando Broja, together with Romelu Lukaku, is among the group of senior players, with Chalobah, who are training with Chelsea’s youngsters."
Interest for the players is there.
Lukaku is Napoli’s top target to replace Osimhen while Broja is wanted by various teams around the Premier League.
Centre-back Chalobah is also a wanted commodity. Aston Villa have been linked with a switch for the defender, who has come through the Blues’ academy system and is, therefore, considered a ‘pure-profit’ player in the eyes of the board. Broja falls into a similar category.
The trio have a combined Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €63 million, which Chelsea would love to put towards new additions.
Compared
Romelu Lukaku
F (C)
Chelsea
Romelu Lukaku
F (C)
Chelsea
VS
Armando Broja
F (C)
Chelsea
Armando Broja
F (C)
Chelsea
|
|
ETV |
|
| €27.2M - €45.3M | ETV Range | €12.1M - €20.1M |
| 31 years old (13 May, 1993) | Age | 23 years old (10 Sep, 2001) |
|
Belgium
|
Nationality |
England
|
Chelsea’s transfer policy questioned
Chelsea’s squad size, meanwhile, is even being questioned by those within the game.
Speaking to The Transfers Podcast, in conjunction with FootballTransfers, esteemed journalist Duncan Castles said that he had been told by one sporting director that the Blues are “either crazy, clever or crazy stupid”.
The Sunday Times’ Jonathan Northcroft replied: “It’s another summer of collecting potential and collecting talent, then chucking people out the door and starting again.
“What happens now? How do you make sense of this squad? How do these players develop?
“That’s the thing. For talent to develop, it needs stability and there needs to be a play, an individualised plan for a player, and there needs to be players on the pitch who are around them who are secure in their roles and positions who can help younger players learn the ropes.
“None of that exists at Chelsea. It didn’t exist last season. You’re watching a whole group of players trying to develop together at the same time.
“Only Cole Palmer was able to come in and do it straight away.
“Nicholas Jackson spent the whole season almost trying to learn how to score and he was kind of getting the hang of it by the end of the year. Now what happens to his development?”
