There doesn’t seem to be a transfer window that goes by these days without Chelsea being one of, if not the main protagonist.
Ever since Todd Boehly took over the club from Roman Abramovich, there has been a sea change in the way in which the West Londoners do their business.
In January 2023, Chelsea were in the headlines for smashing the British transfer record with the purchase of Enzo Fernandez.
As The Guardian (subscription required) noted at the time, the Argentinian, fresh from a World Cup win in Qatar, cost the Blues £106.8m.
Last summer saw a huge clear out of players in what could be dubbed a ‘fire sale,’ but Chelsea still managed to break the transfer record again, this time handing over £115m (Sky Sports) to Brighton and Hove Albion for Moises Caicedo.
Unfortunately for the Blues, and all other Premier League clubs, Financial Fair Play rules are beginning to bite hard, and there are reasons to believe that the Stamford Bridge outfit may need to offload a number of stars again at the end of the current season.
Although there’s a ‘churn’ of players at most clubs, this tends to be because the manager and technical staff believe that they need other options in certain positions to those players who are currently in the squad.
Pep Guardiola at Man City is the master at allowing players to leave when the time is right for him and the club and not before, and given their current league position, it’s hard to argue against the Catalan’s way of doing things.
Mauricio Pochettino takes his side to the Etihad Stadium this weekend, attempting to derail the juggernaut, and the popularity of the fixture has seen fans bemoaning that Man City v Chelsea tickets are all sold out.
It’s sure to be an exciting game with the Blues having recently turned the corner in terms of form, and now arguably targeting a top four finish.
One player that won’t be pulling on the shirt for the visitors, however, is Marc Cucurella.
The Spaniard is currently injured though he might well have played his last game for the club in any event.
According to TeamTalk, the Blues are preparing to sell him this summer because they could be forced to move on a few big money captures.
Cucurella cost the club in excess of £60m (Sky Sports) but has never really lived up to that price tag.
He’s unlikely to get into the first-team ahead of Ben Chilwell, and even if he has lost some of that value Chelsea are just as well to try and cash in.