Chelsea reach transfer agreement with £325,000-a-week player

A Chelsea high-earner has given his green light to join a major European club, with new manager Enzo Maresca looking to reshape the squad in his own image and certain players set to be sacrificed.

Thiago Silva and Ian Maatsen are the first two high-profile players to depart Stamford Bridge, with the former re-joining boyhood club Fluminense following the expiry of his Chelsea contract.

Meanwhile, Maatsen has sealed a £40 million move to Aston Villa, with Omari Kellyman coming the other way to Chelsea in a separate £19 million deal.

Attention now turns to who else could join Maatsen and Silva out the door. There are many players who look set to be sacrificed by co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, who have already orchestrated a busy window with the signings of Kellyman, Tosin Adarabioyo, Estevao Willian and the incoming young Barcelona striker Marc Guiu (Nizaar Kinsella).

Armando Broja, Malang Sarr, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Trevoh Chalobah, Omari Hutchinson, Lesley Ugochukwu, Marc Cucurella, Mykhailo Mudryk and Conor Gallagher are all players who could be sold by Chelsea this summer, according to various reports from the last few months.

Gallagher has entered the final 12 months of his contract, meaning Todd Boehly could make the ruthless decision to sell one of Mauricio Pochettino's stars of last season. Despite a late-season surge and impressive performances for Spain at Euro 2024, uncertainty still surrounds the future of Cucurella.

A more cut-and-dry nominee to be sold is flop striker Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian, who cost Chelsea £97.5 million to sign from Inter Milan in 2021, costs the club £325,000-per-week in wages and doesn't appear to have a future in west London.

He's spent the last two campaigns back out on loan in Serie A, and he's attracting interest from Italian sides yet again this window.

Romelu Lukaku agrees to join AC Milan from Chelsea

According to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, AC Milan are one of them, and the Rossoneri appeal to Lukaku as well.

Chelsea-Romelu-Lukaku

They state that Lukaku has gave his green-light to join Milan from Chelsea. While the 31-year-old agreed to make the move, there remains one roadblock for the Rossoneri in club-to-club negotiations. Milan are trying to convince Chelsea to loan him out again, but it remains to be seen whether Todd Boehly will sanction yet another temporary deal.

“Medical today” – Chelsea ready to complete striker signing with contract until 2030 on the table