PREMIER LEAGUE

Chelsea Can Raise Enough Money Without Selling £50m Star

Conor Gallagher

Chelsea star, Conor Gallagher, has 12 months left in his contract and seems to be on the verge of a possible exit. The club failed to reach an agreement with their academy graduate and seems to have put him on the transfer list. A search for his replacement has led them to Fulham midfielder, Pereira. Purchase of the 28-year-old Brazilian will be a rarity in the Boehly-led consortium’s recent trend of having a young squad.

Gallagher hails from a family of Chelsea supporters and joined the club at the age of 8. The Epsom-born midfielder has had successive loan spells at multiple clubs before making his first senior appearance for the Blues last season. His stint at Crystal Palace has been his best season by far. It was during this season that he began to turn heads and convinced Chelsea to finally use him. However, his first season at the Stamford Bridge was underwhelming compared to his last season.

It didn’t take the club much consideration before they made him available for sale. This spiral of replacing homegrown players with new faces may affect the credibility of the youth development system. Youth players will gradually have second thoughts about entrusting their career to the London club.

Chelsea Well Within Their Bounds

Chelsea continue to add new players to their arsenal like always which often invites onlookers questioning their compliance with the FFP. On the contrary, the Blues have been really meticulous with their financial management.

Last season, Premier League deducted 10 points and 4 points from Everton and Nottingham Forest respectively for breach of its PSR rules. Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) allows a club to lose £105m on a three-year rolling period. To be precise, a maximum of £90m comes out of the owner’s pocket through an additional purchase of the club’s shares. Apart from that, the club is allowed to lose £15m more in three seasons.

The spending rate of Chelsea is same as ever as this summer has again witnessed another influx of players. Reports suggested that the Blues were well approaching the PSR threshold after their massive expenditure following the takeover. In reality, they have somewhat taken care of that part. Through the sale of Ian Maatsen, Omari Hutchinson, and Lewis Hall, they have raised £85m. Another departure would expectedly would help Chelsea get in the safe zone.

Read More:- Boyhood Blue Chalobah asked to leave Chelsea

Is Gallagher Sale Necessary?

As mentioned earlier, Chelsea have already drawn a good £85m after releasing some of their players. Proceeds from the sale of academy products also count as profits under PSR even though the club do not have to bear any cost. Hence, putting Gallagher up for sale seemed like a no brainer.

But the West London club has many other options which they can pursue. Fellow academy graduate, Trevoh Chalobah, has seemed much closer to an exit as evidenced by his exclusion from the pre-season squad. Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill may also afterwards. Kepa Arrizabalaga, who returned from a loan spell at Real Madrid, looks to end his time in England. A move to Saudi seems to be on the cards and Chelsea are said to have rejected an initial bid from Al-Ittihad.

Meanwhile, Armando Broja is keeping one foot outside the exit door. An amount of £30m is required to secure the Albanian’s services. And then there is Romelu Lukaku for whom a transfer to the Serie A is highly anticipated. With an asking price of £38m, the Belgian will surely cost the club a fortune considering his purchase value of £97.5m back in 2021.

This makes the potential release of Gallagher seem pointless and harsh after his first season for his boyhood club. Nevertheless, Chelsea look indifferent and a suitable offer could see him leave the club for good. Spanish giants, Atletico Madrid, have shown interest and have started the bidding process for the Englishman. It is safe to say that his future is currently up in the air.       

As featured on ChelseaNews.com

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