Uncertain future Eight 8 Chelsea stars face uncertain future 

Uncertain future Eight 8 Chelsea stars face uncertain future

With the 2023/24 season approaching its conclusion, Chelsea’s attention will soon swiftly turn to the summer transfer window and improving the squad in time for next term.

In a bizarre sort of way, the season ending in three games’ time might come a bit too early for the Blues. In the past two-and-a-half matches, Mauricio Pochettino has got his side playing some great football and that looks to all be down to a change in system.

At half-time at Villa Park towards the end of last month, Chelsea were trailing by two goals and things were looking bleak – to say the least – for the travelling Blues supporters. Pochettino, though, changed the way his side were set up with Marc Cucurella inverting and coming into the centre of midfield when his team were in possession in the Midlands.

Since then, Chelsea have not conceded a goal. They have scored nine in two-and-a-half games and have been virtually flawless. Pochettino seems to have struck gold. But by no means is that ‘job done’ for the Chelsea head coach – there is still so much more to do.

And the upcoming summer transfer window presents a chance for Pochettino to sit down with the two sporting directors, Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, to discuss the areas of the squad that need improving in time for next season. As well as this, some current players are expected to leave the club to make way for possible new signings.

Two academy graduates, who have both been in great form recently, are set for summers full of speculation over their respective futures. Trevoh Chalobah has been immense since returning from injury in February. The 24-year-old defender has arguably been the most consistent defender since his first appearance of the season at Manchester City.

Chalobah was the subject of mass speculation last summer as the defender got close to moving to Bayern Munich to reunite with former Blues head coach Thomas Tuchel. The move, however, fell through and Chalobah remained at Chelsea for the season.

The centre-back is contracted until June 2028 but he could leave the club in the summer. Selling academy players has become a much more attractive proposition for Premier League clubs in recent times with the Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) having a huge bearing on what business can be done.

Another academy graduate that faces an uncertain future is Conor Gallagher, who has just over 12 months left to run on his contract at Stamford Bridge. At the time of writing, football.london understands talks have not yet started between Chelsea and the midfielder over extending his deal at the club.

Tottenham, who have shown interest in Gallagher in past windows, are said to remain keen on the England international, whose form this season means he looks to be a shoo-in for Gareth Southgate’s Euros squad this summer. It is understood that Gallagher would love to remain at Chelsea beyond the expiration of his current deal and Pochettino shares that sentiment but the head coach’s role in transfer business does not appear to be too big.

Ian Maatsen is another Chelsea player facing a summer full of uncertainty and speculation. The 22-year-old has been a revelation at Borussia Dortmund since signing for the German club on loan in the January transfer window. Maatsen has played a big part in Dortmund’s Champions League run, where they take on Paris Saint-Germain in the second-leg of the semi-final after beating the French club 1-0 in the reverse fixture last week.

Chelsea are expected to look to try and sell Armando Broja again in the summer transfer window. The Blues attempted to offload Broja on a permanent deal in January, but with it being such a quiet month in terms of spending for Premier League clubs because of the aforementioned PSR impact, they ended up loaning him to Fulham.

Since moving across west London, the 22-year-old striker has featured just seven times under Marco Silva. This, largely, has been down to the form of Rodrigo Muniz as well as an injury, but it has so far proven an unsuccessful move for the Albania international.

Hakim Ziyech, Romelu Lukaku and Kepa Arrizabalaga look as if they have no future at Chelsea. The trio have been out on loan at Galatasaray, AS Roma and Real Madrid this season, respectively, and Chelsea will want to offload all three of them this summer to try and get some big wages off their books for good.

Malang Sarr, very much the forgotten man at Chelsea, is likely to leave the club as well. Sarr has not played a game for Chelsea since May 22, 2022, in a 2-1 win against Watford at Stamford Bridge.