Chelsea are set for a significant summer overhaul after securing their place in next season’s Champions League, with Enzo Maresca and his team reportedly prepared to part ways with an astonishing 14 first-team players.
The Blues will be making a comeback to Europe’s top-tier competition next year following their fourth-place finish in the Premier League. Maresca is expected to receive support in the transfer market after concluding his debut season at the helm on a high note with a trophy in the bag too.
However, while the London club will be looking for additions to strengthen the Italian’s squad, several players will be shown the exit door in the upcoming months. According to The Guardian, Noni Madueke and Joao Felix are among those Chelsea are keen to offload; the latter joined permanently for £45m after a successful loan stint in 2023 but was sent out to AC Milan for the second half of the 2024-25 season and is now free to depart permanently.
Madueke had a positive season, netting 11 goals across all competitions and earning his first England caps. However, the report suggests that there is a sense that the former PSV Eindhoven player’s development has stalled.
A large number of other stars are effectively on the market as per the report, including both of the Blues’ senior goalkeepers – Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic. Renato Veiga, Ben Chilwell, Axel Disasi, Wesley Fofana are all up for grabs at the right price and, a year on from the club’s previous attempt to sell him, Trevoh Chalobah’s future is once again in doubt.
In the midfield, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Carney Chukwuemeka and Lesley Ugochukwu are all on the market; Dewsbury-Hall followed Maresca in moving from Leicester to Chelsea but has found it tough to make his mark at Stamford Bridge. Christopher Nkunku and Raheem Sterling – who had a lacklustre season on loan at Arsenal – have also been deemed surplus to requirements and can be transferred subject to satisfactory offers.
On the incoming front, Chelsea have initiated discussions with Borussia Dortmund over a transfer for Jamie Gittens, the England Under-21 winger who has also been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool. It remains uncertain whether the Blues will activate their £25m obligation to sign Jadon Sancho permanently, with the club having the option to back out of a deal at the cost of a £5m penalty.
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