Chelsea clear-out begins as Maatsen signs for Aston Villa and €40m forgotten man departs

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 29 Jun 2024 04:22 CDT
• 3 min read

Chelsea have begun to make way for new signings in their squad with the exit of two players on Friday.

The Blues are in need of flushing out an oversized squad before spending big money to replace this talent. Indeed, the only signing they have announced so far this season is the arrival of free agent Tosin Adebioyoro in a deal that will go into their financial books for next season.

Chelsea, meanwhile, has only seen Thiago Silva leave at the end of his contract and Lewis Hall move to Newcastle in a compulsory transfer following a loan.

READ MORE: Chelsea one of three clubs under fire as Premier League tighten up transfer 'swap' rules

Current ETV

Ian Maatsen

D, M (L), AM (C)

Dortmund

Ian Maatsen

D, M (L), AM (C)

Dortmund

€32.1M

ETV Range

€24.1M - €40.2M

View full profile

Now they stand poised to complete Ian Maatsen’s €44 million (£37.5m) transfer to Aston Villa, which will ease any worries with regards the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.

Maatsen had been strongly linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund after he spent a successful second half of the season at the Bundesliga side, yet the move broke down over Chelsea’s transfer fee demand.

READ MORE: Premier League summer transfers 2024: All the Done Deals

€40m flop given away

Chelsea have also released Hakim Ziyech to sign for Galatasaray, with the Morocco winger having spent much of the last 18 months pushing to leave Stamford Bridge.

The Turkish club, where he spent last season on loan, have signed him on a free transfer it has been announced. He has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €8.2m.

Such was Chelsea’s desperation to part with the player, they allowed Ziyech to depart last summer without a loan fee and now he has moved without a cent of the €40m transfer fee the Blues paid Ajax for the winger returning to them.

Galatasaray, meanwhile, have confirmed that Ziyech will earn a net salary of €2,850,000 for the next season.

Th winger was previously involved in one of the great January transfer window stories as a move to PSG broke down at the last moment as Chelsea sent the wrong documents through on multiple occasions.