Major shake-up at Chelsea: Alonso prepares to offload 16 players

Chelsea have suffered in past seasons from the existence of what became known as the "bomb squad", a group featuring the likes of Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi, who trained away from the first team.

FIFA later banned the practice. Clubs must now find definitive solutions for such cases, whether by selling or loaning the players rather than isolating them.

Qualifying for Europe this season would have handed Chelsea an additional headache: an inability to register all their players. They ran into exactly that problem during the campaign in which they lifted the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2024-2025.

A settlement agreement with UEFA still binds the club for another three seasons, even though European football's governing body has acknowledged the steps Chelsea have taken to improve their financial situation.

Chelsea have kept up their usual busy work in the transfer market, with Xabi Alonso bolstering the squad through the signings of Morgan Rogers, Marco Balestra, Danny Welbeck, Jordan Henderson and Maxence Lacroix. Full-back Pep Chavarria is close to arriving from Rayo Vallecano too.

Those additions have piled up the numbers, though. The congestion was there for all to see in the friendly against Juventus in Hong Kong, when the substitutes' list alone featured 21 players. Only five of them were academy graduates.

A large travelling party made the trip on the Asian tour, where Chelsea prepare to face Milan in Indonesia on Saturday before taking on Malaysian champions Johor Darul Ta'zim on Sunday. Alonso is expected to field two different line-ups across the two games, given how many options he has to choose from.

Two absences complicate the picture further. Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill both missed the last match with minor injuries picked up in the previous friendly, while striker Emmanuel Emega continues his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury at the club's training ground.

Xabi Alonso has big calls to make. Tenth place last season and no European football have left him to rebuild the side from the ground up.

Goalkeeping

Here, at least, the picture looks settled. Alonso relies on: "Robert Sanchez, the young Belgian goalkeeper Mike Penders (21), returning after a successful loan spell with Strasbourg, and Teddy Sharman-Lowe as the third-choice keeper".

Full-backs

Down the right, the options read: "Reece James, Marco Ballestra, Malo Gusto", with James also capable of playing in midfield. Chelsea have slapped a 75 million pound tag on Gusto as Manchester City circle.

The left side is thinner, featuring: "Jorrel Hato, and Bep Chavaria, who is close to joining for 16.3 million pounds".

Centre of defence

Nine centre-backs sit on the books, yet Alonso wants that number trimmed to four or five.

Both "Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashile" are up for sale. Mamadou Sarr looks set to leave on loan.

That leaves a core list of: "Maxence Lacroix, Levi Colwill, Josh Acheampong, Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo".

Young Argentine Aaron Anselmino faces an uncertain summer, though another loan looks most likely after previous spells with Borussia Dortmund and Strasbourg.

Midfield

Enzo Fernandez is the one to watch. Chelsea have priced him at 120 million pounds, the player is weighing his future, and the club would happily see him stay.

Behind him, the midfield takes shape: "Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Valentin Barco, Jordan Henderson, Dario Essugo".

Essugo has been told he features in the plans. Even so, he is open to a loan for regular minutes after a season wrecked by injuries.

Attack

Mykhailo Mudryk poses the thorniest question of all. Chelsea insist every option remains on the table, with the player undergoing a physical assessment following his return from a 20-month ban for taking the banned substance "meldonium".

Out wide, the squad boasts: "Jamie Gittens on the left side, Pedro Neto, Geovany Quenda on the right side", while "Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers" fill the playmaker slot and Estevao Willian can operate anywhere across the front line.

Up top, Chelsea want just three forwards on the books: "Joao Pedro, Danny Welbeck, a third striker". Emmanuel Emegha looks the frontrunner for that final spot, though the futures of Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap remain up in the air.

Stockpiling players is nothing new at Chelsea. The practice traces back to the era of former owner Roman Abramovich, when the number of players out on loan from the club reached 42 before FIFA imposed restrictions on the system.

When Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over in 2022 and then bought Strasbourg, Chelsea shifted towards a multi-club ownership model. The focus fell on signing young players on low wages, then loaning or selling them later to turn a profit.

Andrey Santos offers one of the most striking examples. The midfielder joined for £12 million after impressing in Brazil's second division, then moved to Manchester United for £50 million.

Chelsea have spent around £1.8 billion on signings since the BlueCo group's takeover four years ago, the highest figure in Europe during that period.

Player sales, in return, have brought in almost £1 billion. That includes a Premier League record of £300 million, again the highest among European clubs.

Sales this summer are expected to exceed £150 million, following Trevoh Chalobah's move to Como and the loan of Alejandro Garnacho to Aston Villa with an obligation-to-buy clause of around £40 million next summer.

Yet Chelsea's revenues remain the lowest among England's "big six" clubs. The limited capacity of Stamford Bridge, weak commercial returns, a kit agreement that does not match its rivals, the absence of a main shirt sponsor and the failure to qualify for the Champions League in three of the last four seasons have all taken their toll.

Player trading has therefore become an essential part of the club's economic model, much like the approach taken by Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth. Chelsea aspire to combine financial stability with competing for major titles and returning to the Champions League.

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