Mauricio Pochettino planning ruthless fire sale as 15 Chelsea stars face uncertain futures this summer - Reports
Mauricio Pochettino is keen on reducing his Chelsea squad and has reportedly decided to let go of 15 players. The Blues have a bloated 33-man squad and are set to welcome back loanees at the end of the season.
As per the Daily Mirror, the first two players to exit the club would be Joao Felix and Denis Zakaria. The duo were signed on loan during the season and are set to head back to Atletico Madrid and Juventus respectively.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic and Edouard Mendy did not have a significant role at the club this season and are also set to exit. The striker was close to rejoining Barcelona in January, but La Liga rules stopped the transfer. Meanwhile, Chelsea submitting papers late saw the Moroccan star's move to PSG on loan fall through.
Cesar Azpilicueta, Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kalidou Koulibaly and Callum Hudson-Odoi are also facing uncertain futures. Pochettino is not interested in working with the players and has asked the club to ship them off.
N'Golo Kante's contract is yet to be renewed, and he will become a free agent in the summer. He was close to penning a new deal in March but could now be on his way out of the club.
Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic will be entering the final 12 months of their contract but are yet to renew their deals. Chelsea are not interested in keeping players who are not signing extensions.
Atletico Madrid confirm Chelsea are not signing Joao Felix
Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has confirmed that Chelsea will not sign Joao Felix permanently. He added that they had got the information on Monday, and it was down to the new Blues manager Mauricio Pochettino.
He was quoted on ESPN as Tuesday:
“We've known for less than 24 hours. The Chèlsea manager does not count on him. He will come back when his loan ends, and we will see what happens. We do not have anything planned, but he is an Atletico Madrid player.”
Felix was keen on staying and had told the media via ESPN:
"In terms of if I want to stay or not, I think the future, no-one knows. Now I am just focused on tomorrow's game. After that, we don't know what will happen. But I am happy here. The club is so big is amazing, everyone behind the club is so good, so yes I am happy to be here."
Reports suggest Atletico Madrid were demanding £88 million for the forward, but Chelsea were not interested, as they were getting Christopher Nkunku this summer.