Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to trim Chelsea’s bloated squad even further in the coming days, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Romelu Lukaku among those set to be sold.
The west London club have already made around £200million from player sales this summer, but Pochettino is eager to offload more of his fringe players before the start of the new season.
Inter Milan have already made an offer for Lukaku, but it was rejected by Chelsea who are holding out for a higher fee. The Belgian striker had been due to report back for pre-season training this week, but he has been told to wait until next Monday while negotiations continue.
Aubameyang is also being given the same treatment, with Chelsea hoping to offload him to a Saudi Arabian club. The former Arsenal star is not part of Pochettino’s plans and will not be required back at Cobham until next week.
Hakim Ziyech is also being targeted by a Saudi club, but his move to Al-Nassr fell through after they drastically reduced their salary proposal after identifying a knee problem in his medical. Chelsea still hope that deal can be revived.
If none of the transfers are completed before next Monday’s rescheduled return date, there are suggestions the players could be asked to train away from Pochettino’s main first-team group. Those on the verge of moves away could be instructed to remain at Cobham until the transfers have gone through.
Callum Hudson-Odoi is already believed to be training away from the main group of Chelsea players, having decided that he wants to leave the club permanently.
With so much activity going on at Stamford Bridge, it promises to be an interesting few days for Chelsea as they look to trim their squad and bring in fresh faces. It remains to be seen who will still be at the club come the start of the new season.