The possibility of one high-earning Chelsea ace being used in a swap deal for a Real Madrid player has been mooted this week, as Todd Boehly and the recruitment team look to both trim Enzo Maresca's squad and upgrade his options simultaneously.
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The confirmed signings of Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Omari Kellyman, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Brazilian starlet Estevao Willian bring Chelsea's total expenditure of the window to around £81 million so far, and the soon-to-be signing of Renato Veiga from FC Basel will take that up to £93 million.
Boehly, assisted by his co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, have operated cleverly to ensure Chelsea are not flying too close to the wind in regard to PSR by agreeing a host of outgoing transfers.
Ian Maatsen, Omari Hutchinson, Lewis Hall, Michael Golding, Thiago Silva and Hakim Ziyech have all departed Stamford Bridge to the tune of around £89 million - meaning Chelsea have registered a net spend of just £4 million so far.
The aforementioned bunch are now also trimmed off the wage bill, saving Chelsea more cash, but a few more expected to follow them out the door. Armando Broja, Malang Sarr, Romelu Lukaku, Trevoh Chalobah, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, Mykhailo Mudryk and Conor Gallagher are other players who could be sold by Chelsea, according to various reports from the last few months.
Chelsea are under pressure to sell Gallagher with his contract expiring in under 12 months, while the likes of Lukaku don't appear to have a future under Maresca. Another high-earning player who could leave with the Belgian is goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who is believed to be on around £155,000 per week.
The 29-year-old, who spent last season on loan at the Bernabeu, is also attracting interest from Saudi Arabia and could reunite with N'Golo Kante at Al-Ittihad (Rudy Galetti).
Arrizabalaga is also rumoured to be very keen on quitting Chelsea this summer, and a move back to Real Madrid may well be on the cards for him.
Arrizabalaga could be used in Chelsea swap deal for Lunin
According to The Boot Room, Arrizabalaga could be used in a Chelsea swap deal for Real keeper Andriy Lunin.
Chelsea have enquired over the possibility of signing the Ukraine international, who featured at Euro 2024, amid his contractual standoff with Carlo Ancelotti's side.
Lunin's deal is set to expire next summer as things stand, with Real under pressure to agree an extension or consider selling. If talks don't progress over a new contract, it is believed Chelsea are among the sides who could look to strike a deal with Florentino Perez.