CHELSEA’S Club World Cup win changes everything. And nothing.
Everything, because a trophy suggests there really is method in the transfer policy that has sometimes looked like madness.
And nothing, because the Blues still need to do some serious business on outgoings this summer, despite the £90million prize money they have earned.
must balance the transfer books if they want to register new signings like CWC hero Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens for next season’s .
Let alone anyone else, such as , that they intend to recruit in the remainder of the window.
The £90m in cash from America should keep Chelsea safe from any worries about compliance with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
But it will make no difference to obeying the terms of their punishment from Uefa for breaking different financial rules.
In addition to the big fines, Uefa have banned the Blues from registering new signings in the 25-man “A”; squad list for the Champions League unless the costs of those players are covered by gains from moving on existing members of the group.
would be a big help towards clearing the way for Pedro and Co.
Goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic is set to sign for Bournemouth for £25m, also generating a decent profit.
But Petrovic was on loan at sister club Strasbourg last season and so not part of the 25-man A list that contested the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League.
Only three of the players who were on the list, have so far actually left the club.
Losing on-loan ’s wages of £7.5m is a welcome saving.
The sale of young midfielder Mathis Amougou to Strasbourg, just months after his £12.5 signing, won’t make much impact.
Nor will the release of goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom.
That is why Trevoh Chalobah’s situation remains uncertain.
Any price for the homegrown defender would be pure profit. A fee of, say, £35m would be a big step towards covering the cost of players they have already signed and possibly give them leeway to spend some of their CWC winnings on more recruits.
SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE
BEN CHILWELL, Raheem Sterling and other players with no future at Chelsea went back to training last week.
They and their agents will be hoping that the Blues’ Club World Cup winnings help to grease the wheels of deals for them to leave.
Former England internationals and earn about £27m per year between them.
Potential buyers will be reluctant to meet their current salaries, and that is where Chelsea may have to be cute.
Accepting a lower transfer fee in order to agree a package acceptable to all parties could make sense and the CWC prize money does ease pressure on cashflow.
But co-owner Behdad Eghbali in particular is renowned for holding out for top dollar, in transfer and commercial deals.
Something will have to give or some big earners will keep being paid not to play.
ARMAND-GO?
ARMANDO BROJA has returned to Chelsea after Everton decided not to seek a deal after a loan on Merseyside last season.
has had a frustrating few years of injuries and unsuccessful loans, first at Fulham and then at Goodison Park.
The Albanian international is now seeking a permanent move away from Chelsea to kickstart his career once more instead of another temporary exit.
Broja has not played regularly since a loan spell at Southampton which ended three years ago and wants somewhere where the chance to play regularly will provide an opportunity to impress again.
KIT HITS THE FAN
CHELSEA can now tell potential shirt sponsors: show us the money if you want to sign up with the world champions.
Even before the Club World Cup, the Blues turned down offers from a number of suitors who wanted to put their name on the front of their new kit.
The price of a deal will only have gone up as a result of their success in America.
But can Stamford Bridge chiefs – and the investors behind them – really afford to go into a new season without a main shirt sponsor for the third year in a row?
Chelsea are thought to be looking for at least £55m per year for front-of-shirt rights for the men’s and women’s teams.
That would be a £15m increase on their last long-term deal, with mobile phone company Three.
That association ceased at the end of the 2022-23 season, the first campaign under the new ownership.
Chelsea entered 2023-24 without a shirt sponsor, signing with Infinite Athlete in September 2023 for the rest of that campaign.
The Blues went nearly all of last season without a name on the front of their shirt before a short-term arrangement with Dubai property firm .
Chelsea were banking on their return to the Champions League driving up the value of the shirt sponsorship.
And the CWC win will make them more determined to hold out for what they regard as a fair price.
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ENZ OF AN ERA?
CHELSEA bosses consider Liam Rosenior a genuine candidate to replace Enzo Maresca.
Not in the immediate future, of course – although you never can tell with the Blues.
But any club worth its salt has a succession plan in place for the manager and ’s work at sister club Strasbourg has put him very much in the frame.
In his first season, the former Hull boss guided the club to seventh place in Ligue 1 and into next season’s Europa Conference League.
And he did so with a very young team that played attractive, tactically fluid football.
Current Blues head coach is more secure in his job than ever after leading the team to Club World Cup glory and massive prize money.
But Rosenior, who rejected approaches from Premier League clubs and signed a contract extension at Strasbourg in April, is a rising star in the wider Chelsea universe.
NO DILL FOR CHELSEA
IT’S the end of an era at Chelsea.
For the last dozen or so years, SunSport’s Andy Dillon has been one of the few constants at a club that always seems in a state of flux, whether times are good or bad, happy or sad.
Managers came and went, but Dillo got the best out of all of them in press conferences with his blend of humour, humanity and humdinging questions.
Jose Mourinho, during his second spell in charge, would grin and start digging the club’s director of communications in the ribs the moment he saw that Andy was up next.
Mourinho was not alone in enjoying a bit of to and fro with Dillo. Antonio Conte, Frank Lampard, Thomas Tuchel... pretty much everyone in the hotseat responded well.
He even coaxed a few smiles out of Maurizio Sarri.
And Andy was proud that he kept getting the best line out of Blues bosses, week after week, without ever once asking about inverted full backs.
Dillo’s first Club World Cup with Chelsea was under Rafa Benitez in Japan in 2012 and his stint as club correspondent ended with the Blues’ triumph in the USA.
Anyone who knows him would tell you he deserved to go out as a champion.
