Chelsea might have sell arguably their best player of this season, to rebuild their underperforming squad.
That's according to one former Blues star, with Mauricio Pochettino's side dropping more points at the weekend to west London rivals, Brentford. Despite a spend of over a billion pounds since the BlueCo takeover in 2022, Chelsea sit in the bottom half of the table, with European football a distant pipedream at current.
Chelsea may have to sell this summer in order to generate income – and given that Conor Gallagher is a homegrown prospect who would represent pure profit on the books, former Blues player Eni Aluko has told FourFourTwo that she believes owner Todd Boehly has a decision to make over selling one of his better performers this season.
“I think it’ll be a big blow if he goes because Gallagher has been the most consistent player in an inconsistent season,” Aluko told FFT at the London Football Awards. “He’s the player that you can guarantee the hard work, work off the ball and intensity from: obviously, the finishing side of his game can improve.
“I think he’s the most consistent player in midfield – he’s been given the armband as well. But from an FFP standpoint for Chelsea, he’s probably the most valuable player so from a business perspective, they’re looking around the squad, thinking, ‘who’s going to get us the most value?’”
Gallagher has been linked with an exit over the past two transfer windows, with his current deal winding down and an extension unlikely. Aluko noted that Chelsea had perhaps misjudged the situation with the England international, given that he seems destined to be departing this summer, despite being one of the club's better performers.
“It’s a tricky one,” she said. “I think ultimately it will come down to that determination of how much value they can get from him. I think he’s got 18 months left on his contract – that’s not a lot – so again, that’s a strategy that seems backwards, a little bit.
“You want to retain your most valuable players.”
More Chelsea stories
Arsenal to move for €100m Chelsea flop Mykhaylo Mudryk, in shock transfer twist: report
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino hits back at Gary Neville's 'billion pound bottle jobs' jibe
