Enough is enough! Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali MUST clear this squad out!

I have well and truly had it to the roof with a large majority of this Chelsea team, yes, Graham Potter’s job is to coach and improve players but I believe there so many subpar individuals that need to be removed from the long-term planning of Chelsea Football Club. Individuals that do not give the basics like effort or the ability to spot a run, never mind picking it out. As for the defenders and midfielders on my list, they either lack concentration, ability or the consistency required and some may just have price tags that could be too good to turn down.

Thankfully, Matt Law, a Chelsea correspondent from The Telegraph has revealed that the owners will try to clear out the squad and put an end to player power, following other reports of some players behind the scenes not willing to take in instructions from Graham Potter. Every time over the last 10+ years that Chelsea have had a terrible season or even in some cases a slump in form, the manager has paid the ultimate price, no manager has had a chance to truly rebuild the Chelsea team in their image for a sustained period which has led to the current team bloated with individuals signed from different managerial stints, whether that be Lampard, Sarri, or Tuchel.

Marcos Alonso (another player who has been involved in behind the scenes antics) was only recently sold in the summer of 2022 to Barcelona, leaving N’golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko the remaining survivors of the Antonio Conte era.

Just before I start, let’s not forget that this is also not just a Graham Potter issue, Thomas Tuchel had way more time in charge and even a top class tactical coach like himself could not seem to improve and gain consistency out of some of these players on my list for Summer 2023 sale consideration.

Kepa Arrizabalaga :

Kepa for me has to go if we get a suitable offer in the 20-25m GBP price range. Signed in 2019 for a world record fee of 72m, Kepa has had huge ups and downs in his Chelsea career and despite holding down a first team spot under Graham Potter, mistakes have crept back into his game and for me personally he just cannot be trusted as a number 1 at least. I am happy for him to be Chelsea’s number two as I appreciate you cannot sell everyone in one summer but it seems Kepa would not be happy to do that, with reports suggesting last summer he was looking for a move away to be a number one again.

I do not think he is the most troublesome but pretty much every consistently winning side has had a leader and big character in goal, a keeper who delivers in the biggest of moments and demands from his backline, a keeper who comes out with no fear from crosses, a keeper who does not have moments of hesitation… If we could find a goalkeeper who does all of the above and has Kepa’s passing ability, then that would be the goalkeeper I would want as number one.

Edouard Mendy :

If both of your main goalkeepers probably needing to be sold so the team can progress doesn’t scream rebuild to you, then what does? Edouard Mendy has had a drastic fall off since 2021, regularly making mistakes with his feet (main reason Potter promoted Kepa to number 1) whilst his shotstopping ability has also fallen off a cliff, to make things worse, it does not seem like just a rough period he will bounce back from at Chelsea as he cost Senegal a couple of times in the 2022 World Cup which included a horror display against Netherlands.

Mendy and Chelsea have halted contract talks for some time, and it seems like he will be one of the first to be placed onto the transfer list. I would be listening to offers around 30-35m GBP.

Cesar Azpilicueta :

Will always have appreciation and respect for the amount of games he has played but personally feel he should have left the club a while ago. Azpi is way past his best and the fact Chelsea’s recruitment team and Graham Potter are not pushing for a replacement in this window is infuriating me. When are we going to start being ruthless and calling a spade a spade? If Azpi is a top professional (which I think he is) he would not cause a fuss in the dressing room should he not be playing, just like John Terry didn’t when he couldn’t break into Antonio Conte’s team. Let him go on a free in the summer.

Kalidou Koulibaly :

Chelsea’s signing of Kalidou Koulibaly for 33 million last summer had me very excited, on paper it looked to be one of the best signings of the summer, Chelsea had just signed an experienced world class defender with top ball playing and leadership abilities, having been Napoli’s captain for years.

What Chelsea fans have got this season from Koulibaly could not be any further from the outlook I had of him, he started his Chelsea career well with a goal against Spurs and a solid debut against Everton but there has been so many lapses of concentration, errors on the ball and extreme rashness in the game of Kalidou that I am starting to wonder whether Chelsea should just cut their losses after one season. Can he adapt next season? Yeah, he could, but Chelsea have Levi Colwill and Benoit Badiashile along with Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah and if there is an experienced defender i would prefer to keep in the squad, it would be Thiago Silva.

I thought we were getting a leader to replace a leader (Antonio Rudiger) but he seems shy and lacks authority at the back which is strange for such a seasoned pro. My verdict is to sell him for 20-25m back to Napoli (I am sure they’ll take him considering how much they wanted him to stay) or anywhere else which present a reasonable offer, unless he DRASTICALLY improves during the remainder of this season.

Ben Chilwell :

I have been floating the idea of selling Ben Chilwell round in my head for a little while, I feel like my final verdict won’t be reached until I see him for the remainder of this season but I just feel that he has such a drastic drop off since the ACL injury he sustained against Juventus under Thomas Tuchel.

My biggest consideration with this is promoting the high flying Ian Maatsen who is enjoying a spectacular campaign with Burnley under Vincent Kompany. Maatsen offers blistering pace, very good dribbling in tight spaces, constant overlaps, a goal threat and a good cross, yes, he might not be at a high level defensively yet but I think Chilwell is quite an overrated defender, especially 1v1.

I will hold off on my final verdict on Chilwell for now but with Marc Cucurella highly unlikely to leave and Ian Maatsen looking like such a talented player, selling Chilwell might also be something the board consider, just a sneaky feeling.

Jorginho : 

If I’m being honest, not a player I’m overly comfortable I’m letting go because I feel as a backup option he would be useful, I believe he will be hard to replace in terms of what he offers on the ball and how good he is at making angles to receive the ball but he is on my list anyway as the club & player make no advancements on a new deal plus the fact that his physical deficiencies hurt us so often mean that it’s likely Chelsea let him go on a free transfer. 

Conor Gallagher : 

Massively respect his drive to do well at Chelsea but the ability just isn’t there for me, when it’s evident that your main weapon as a midfielder is your work rate and ability to press instead of passing, dribbling, shooting or duel winning then I’m not overly interested. 

I believe we should entertain offers of £25m+ for Conor in the summer, honestly a very underrated player for a side like Crystal Palace or Everton but if we want to be a serious club again, I think sales like Gallagher are needed.  He has struggled to make impact off the bench thus far under Graham Potter and the fit in the preferred 4-2-3-1 formation is not good, he does not have the creative ability as a 10 and the double pivot experiment under Tuchel went just as well as Chelsea’s season this year, awful. 

Ruben Loftus Cheek : 

At 26 years of age, I feel it’s time for loftus cheek to find a permanent home where he can start every week, he still has natural talent but I would rather Graham Potter prioritise the development of Carney Chukweumeka, who ironically plays like a young Ruben. 

Anyway, the ability to carry the ball along with his physical attributes should make Ruben an appealing option for some lower level premier league sides and with the midfield being an area where the recruitment team are rightly looking to rebuild, I believe Rubén’s future is not at Chelsea anymore, a soft spot for him absolutely, especially after the injuries he’s been through, but for a £10-15m offer, I’m taking it. 

Mason Mount : 

Some people might think it’s bonkers to want to sell Mount but I feel they only truly say that because he’s a Chelsea academy boy, when you debate his football ability, many struggled to put forward a solid claim as to why he should be apart of Chelsea’s future. 

Mount’s lack of IQ in attack is a serious detriment to our play and this has been the case not just this season. A 2x Chelsea POTY (somehow won last seasons award) yes, but I really struggle to name you an attribute that he has which is at a top level. 

Managers insistence on starting Mason every game mostly comes from the fact he is tactically disciplined and understands what’s required of him in multiple positions, he takes in instructions well but does not translate that into top performances onto the pitch consistently, alas, it reminds me of Willian, fans online even questioned once if he had some sort of clause in his contract where he had to start a certain amount of games, the answer was clearly no, but the answer in my opinion was yes to everything I said above about managers reliance on a tactically disciplined hard worker over consistent football performances. 

It leaves me scratching my head just quite how overrated he is becoming, talks of a new contract are ongoing despite an absolutely horrendous season, and one could argue he has stagnated in overall performance the last two seasons, yes his numbers were good last season (albeit not against many top teams) but just pure footballing performances, I haven’t seen many from Mount in a while. 

My verdict is bench player or sell for offers of £50m+. I would rather Nkunku or Felix start as a 10, I would rather actual wingers than forcing Mount out wide and his performances this season dropping deep as a number 8 (his favored position) leave a lot to be left desired. 

Denis Zakaria : 

Zakaria’s case is simple for me, £25m buy option might sound cheap but when you factor in other business we want to do in the summer (signing Felix on a permanent, signing a defensive midfielder etc) as well as a likely hefty spend this window, I’m not sure it would be wise to trigger that option. 

He’s shown some good performances and certainly given us some defensive and physical attributes that we lack (albeit being played as an #8 in the pivot) but I do have some reservations on his ball playing ability, I feel like he’s a player who thrives on confidence and his run has in the side for me has been largely based on that. 

Perhaps a bit harsh but I’m sure some will agree on my take with Denis, I’m not totally against finding a place for him as a rotational player, but it would mean forking out nearly £30m, very questionable. 

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang : 

Out of everyone we’ve mentioned, I couldn’t be more certain of a player leaving Chelsea than Pierre, in some ways I do feel sorry for him, he joined Chelsea because of Thomas Tuchel who was sacked swiftly after joining and he doesn’t regularly get the service to score goals from the likes of Mount, Havertz and others but I feel like even with these factors, he has shown big deficiencies on the ball, he’s also lost massive amounts of pace as he’s gotten older and there have been times where “Lazy” has cropped into my head, does not press well, does not win duels, does not make too many runs, it’s essentially pretty painful to watch him unless a ball falls into the box. 

£12m down the drain, on big wages and at 33 years old has no re sale value, we need to try and sneak £5m from someone in the summer, I’d look at the Chinese and Arabian markets for a deal. 

Hakim Ziyech : 

Hakim rivals Aubameyang for the player I expect to leave Chelsea first during the summer, signed from Ajax for £33.3m in 2020, the “Wizard” struggled to hold down a place under Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, it’s clear to me that Ziyech lacks 1v1 dribbling ability to take a player on and suffers with a lack of burst to get past defenders, a nice player on his day due to his lovely left foot but just not reliable or good enough for where Chelsea want to be heading. 

At 29 years of age, the club should be urgently moving him on for a £15-20m offer from the first side willing to overcome the obstacle of his wages. 

Armando Broja : 

Some might consider this harsh considering he has only played 287 minutes in the league from 12 games this season but I think Chelsea should sell Broja, he’s currently off with a long term knee injury and I have serious concerns that this might affect his burst of pace. 

Consider also that striker links never seem to be going away with Nkunku and Thuram likely striker options for the 2023/24 season whilst the club also like the likes of Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney as revealed in the latest episode of our podcast by Chelsea insider Nathan Gissing, the numbers around broja just don’t look good for him. 

I don’t know how Broja gets into this team when he gets back from injury and considering how open he was to a move back to Southampton and West Ham during last summer for regular first team starts, Chelsea could do worse business than accepting a £20m offer. 

Kai Havertz : 

I’ve lost patience, I do not know what he brings to this team, it’s a big *If* considering he scored in the final of the greatest club competition, but if he didn’t score that Champions league final goal, he would go down as one of the biggest flops in Chelsea history. 

Kai’s league performances from Lampard to Tuchel to Potter have been so many levels below the expectations, I still don’t know his best position, is he a striker? Is he a 10? Is he an 8? What is he? He doesn’t perform to a high level in any of these positions, it’s the same issue I have with Mount. 

I don’t know what attributes Kai possesses to a high level that make me want to believe in him and his performances are just getting worse and worse. 16 goals in 73 league matches screams underwhelming to me and let me not forget the fact he has created 5 big chances in those 73 league games… 5! 5!!!!! 

Chelsea are going to need to make a big sale to help balance the consistent spending and for me Kai has to be that player, I’d be looking for offers around the £50-55m mark mainly due to his age, I don’t believe he has great potential like some people clearly do, then again, we might be able to lie our way to a nice sale in the summer. 

So, that’s it, that’s 14 players I’ve given you that I believe should/could be leaving Chelsea Football Club. The rebuilding task is going to be tough of course, what we have now is the result of years of board incompetence under the old regime with no recruitment structure and no plan in place apart from hiring and firing our way to cup trophies, nevertheless I want to come back to this article in many months time and smile knowing a large chunk of them have gone and been replaced by players who not only have the ability but more importantly the mentality to play for this club.