Chelsea’s selling spree costing Boehly a fortune as they take £100m-plus hit on transfer fees with more pain to come
CHELSEA will at least have a car parking space for incoming boss Mauricio Pochettino thanks to a growing exodus of players.
But the club may yet have to rent it out to make ends meet after taking huge financial hits trimming their squad down to a workable number.
Downsizing from the high of 33 players last season to a more reasonable 25 should be the ‘No 1 priority’ said departing caretaker boss Frank Lampard in his final address last month.
However, it looks like it is going to cost Blues chairman Todd Boehly a small fortune to do so at a time when he needs to be bringing cash IN to offset last season’s record £606MILLION transfer spree.
World Cup winner N’Golo Kante, 32, was the first to pack his bags yesterday, making a free transfer move to Saudi club Al-Ittihad.
The inspiring yet injury-hit midfielder will pocket £25m a season in wages.
But because he is at the end of his contract, Chelsea get nothing.
The France star said: “The time has come to open a new chapter.
“Before that, it is important to say thank you to the great and beautiful family of Chelsea.
“Only good memories, great victories and memorable titles won by your side.
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“From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much. I will never forget you.”
Kante’s exit was swiftly followed by a £25m deal to sell fellow midfielder Mateo Kovacic, 29, to Treble winners Manchester City — £15m less than Chelsea paid Real Madrid for the Croatian in 2019.
Contract rebel keeper Edouard Mendy, 31, is off to Saudi outfit Al-Alhi for less than half the £24m he cost.
Winger Hakim Ziyech, 30, is not far behind, teaming up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr for around £8m — a long way short of the £36.7m fee he commanded from Ajax.
Defender Kalidou Koulibaly, 32, will bring in half the £35m he cost last July with his move to Al-Hilal.
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Chelsea are in talks to shift striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 34, but wherever he goes, it will not recoup the £12m coughed up last summer.
Despite swallowing big losses on all these deals, club sources are adamant Chelsea will not stray over the line when it comes to Financial Fair Play.
This is seen as a move to remove dead wood and start a rebuild.
But it is going to cost a pretty packet — as SunSport revealed exclusively on April 1.
Even a £65m switch for forward Kai Havertz to Arsenal leaves Chelsea with a £5m loss despite the German, 24, being a Champions League winner.
Flop striker Romelu Lukaku, 30, signed for a then club-record £97.5m less than three years ago, is also up for grabs for £60m.
Selling homegrown players who technically cost nothing is the best way to balance the books.
Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah and Callum Hudson-Odoi could keep Boehly in the black.
Ex-Blues star Lampard admitted the bloated squad made it tough to train and led to resentment and frustration.
Chelsea are starting to play sweeper in the dressing room by moving on a raft of players ahead of Pochettino’s first day at work on Saturday week.