The player traders at Clearlake have plenty of wheeling and dealing to do in the transfer market before the summer window slams shut, with Chelsea aiming to get a long list of players off their books.
The Blues have, once again, been busy bolstering Enzo Maresca’s squad on either side of their Club World Cup triumph in the United States. The strong end to last season, combined with their success across the pond, points towards a process which is finally starting to bear fruit.
Despite the array of additions made, Chelsea remain in the market for more, but only if the club can offload unwanted and forgotten personnel will the likes of Xavi Simons and Alejandro Garnacho end up in London.
Here are all the players the Blues still need to sell, even after reaching agreements for Kieran Dewsbury Hall, Lesley Ugochukwu and Marc Guiu’s exits.
Carney Chukwuemeka
The young attacking midfielder is a talent many Chelsea supporters would be happy to still have on their books, but Maresca seemingly never took to Chukwuemeka.
He failed to appear in blue during the first half of 2024–25 and was subsequently loaned to Borussia Dortmund for the remainder of the season in January. Now, Chelsea are hoping to sell Chukwuemeka to the German club for a rather modest fee, given his potential and the success he had at Dortmund during his ten Bundesliga outings.
The Blues are aiming to recoup the £20 million ($26.5 million) they spent to sign him from Aston Villa in 2022.
Christopher Nkunku
Nkunku’s Chelsea career was cursed from the outset, with a significant knee injury sustained during his first preseason with the club compromising his debut campaign.
The Frenchman could’ve been magic under Mauricio Pochettino, but the injury meant he missed the first half of Pochettino’s sole season. By the time he returned, Cole Palmer had established himself as Chelsea’s talisman.
Undoubtedly gifted but a tough profile to appease, Nkunku was used with varying degrees of success in multiple roles by Maresca. His most promising work arguably arrived most recently at the Club World Cup, but Chelsea are still keen to sell the ex-RB Leipzig star.
The Blues must be expected to make a loss.
Nicolas Jackson
Like Nkunku, Chelsea are prepared to give up on Jackson after his sophomore year.
There’s plenty to like about the Senegalese forward, who’s a superb outlet and a disruptive force in attack. However, Jackson is far from a reliable finisher and has underperformed in front of goal during his two Premier League seasons—more significantly in his debut season.
Unconvinced by Jackson’s potential to improve, the Blues have added two new strikers to their ranks this summer in Liam Delap and João Pedro. The latter, signed from Brighton & Hove Albion, has enjoyed an electric start to his Chelsea career, helping Maresca’s side win the Club World Cup with three goals in two starts.
Pedro looks set to emerge as the Blues’ starting No. 9, with Jackson, as it stands, Maresca’s third-choice. Perhaps the loser of the Benjamin Šeško race will pivot to the Senegalese international.
Raheem Sterling
A slumping Sterling hardly showcased an iteration of himself that anyone would want to buy during his loan spell at Arsenal last season.
The once-great winger is the highest-paid player at Chelsea, per Capology, and the Blues are going to have to work incredibly hard to find a buyer for the 30-year-old this summer.
It’ll surely take a huge drop in salary for Sterling to leave permanently, with another loan potentially on the horizon.
Axel Disasi
The slow-turning defender enjoyed a bright start to life at Aston Villa, but their lack of interest regarding an outright purchase shows that Disasi didn’t exactly light up Villa Park during his six-month loan.
The Frenchman has no future at Chelsea, with Maresca consigning the former Monaco defender to Conference League and domestic cup outings during the first half of last season.
Disasi has attracted interest from the Saudi Pro League, but nothing is yet to transpire after FC Neom ended their pursuit.
Renato Veiga
Veiga was a curious addition from Basel last summer, and the Portuguese international primarily served as Marc Cucurella’s backup during his first six months at the club.
He only played a minor role, with the bulk of his minutes arriving in Europe, yet Chelsea were keen to cut ties as early as the January transfer window. Veiga eventually joined Juventus on loan until the end of the season, and appeared 13 times in Serie A for the Bianconeri.
The 22-year-old offered competence at the heart of Igor Tudor’s defence, and the Blues will now look to make a profit on Veiga by selling him this summer. They paid £12 million ($15.9 million) for his services a year ago, and there should be a market for the versatile defender.
Ben Chilwell
Whatever happened to Ben Chilwell, eh?
Once one of the Premier League’s most dynamic full-backs, Chilwell has endured a staggering demise since moving to Chelsea, with injuries and persistent managerial changes seeing the Englishman evolve into a forgettable figure in west London.
Chilwell was included in the Blues’ Premier League squad last season, but didn’t make an appearance in the top flight until he joined Crystal Palace on loan in January. There, he played eight times in the league and was a part of the squad which helped the Eagles to their first piece of major silverware.
Palace haven’t shown an interest in buying Chilwell permanently, but Chelsea are hoping a suitor emerges for another handsomely-paid performer.
David Datro Fofana
The most forgotten of forgotten Chelsea men may well be Fofana, who hasn’t played for the club since 2023 and has been out on loan to three different clubs.
The Ivorian striker had some success at Burnley during their 2023–24 Premier League campaign, and spent last season with Turkish outfit Göztepe. However, he made just nine appearances in the Süper Lig and scored twice.
His stock is hardly at an all-time high, so Chelsea will surely look to loan the forward out again in a bid to boost his value. Fofana will not get a sniff if he remains at Stamford Bridge this summer.
Alfie Gilchrist
Chelsea’s 2024 Academy Player of the Year is hopeful of securing a Championship move before the end of the summer window, and Gilchirst could depart the club permanently.
The Blues are always keen to bank some ’pure profit’ by parting ways with their own, and Gilchrist perhaps isn’t someone they regard as capable of contributing to Maresca’s project in a significant way.
The defender played 30 times in the second tier for promotion hopefuls Sheffield United last season, and is likely to join to a side capable of making a Premier League push.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Nine Players Chelsea Still Need to Sell This Summer.