Pedro Neto (left) and Enzo Fernández are both reportedly deemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea.
Pedro Neto (left) and Enzo Fernández are both reportedly deemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea. | Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC/Getty Images
Xabi Alonso has found himself constantly falling back on the word “balance” during his first transfer window as Chelsea manager.
That has been a concept typically lacking in the summers overseen by BlueCo and another mountainous outlay on even more talent—from any and all age brackets—suggests the trend won’t halt just yet. However, if the Blues are to continue avoiding any future penalties for financial breaches, this flood of incomings must be balanced by some sales.
While there are certain stars on the roster who remain “untouchable,” The Athletic has revealed a surprising number of players that have been deliberately left off that “not for sale” list.
That’s not to say that Chelsea are actively courting suitors to take them off their hands, they have simply been made available for sale at a pre-agreed price. Given the swollen nature of Alonso’s current roster, there is at least $600 million (£445 million) worth of talent on the open market.
But which stars can Chelsea actually afford to lose?
Axel Disasi
Axel Disasi
Axel Disasi’s Chelsea exit is approaching. | Vincent Mignott/DeFodi Images/Getty Images
Age: 28
Position: Center back
Asking price: $33.6 million
Linked clubs: Crystal Palace, West Ham United
Verdict: Sell
Yes, Axel Disasi is in fact still a Chelsea player. The French center back’s presence is a bit like finding some loose change within the folds of your couch only to establish that it’s the wrong currency.
Disasi hasn’t made a competitive appearance for the Blues since January 2025, spending the subsequent 18 months on loan in some form of claret and blue. The chance to return to West Ham United in a permanent capacity could be on the table, although whether any club—whatever their color scheme—is willing to match Chelsea’s ambitious price tag remains to be seen.
If the Blues can get half of the $52 million they paid Monaco for Disasi three years, it should be considered a coup.
Marc Guiu
Marc Guiu
Guiu isn‘t of the requisite level. | Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Age: 20
Position: Center forward
Asking price: $33.6 million
Linked clubs: Coventry, Bologna
Verdict: Cash in
Marc Guiu always had the whiff of a human investment portfolio rather than a player of actual interest. Barcelona academy graduates aren’t often available for $6.9 million. Two years on from that sound investment, Chelsea have the opportunity to cash in.
Benoit Badiashile
Benoît Badiashile
Badiashile has struggled to convince multiple Chelsea managers. | Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Age: 25
Position: Center back
Asking price: $40.4 million
Linked clubs: Napoli, Juventus
Verdict: Sell
It’s been almost eight years since Benoît Badiashile was given a public scolding by Thierry Henry for failing to tuck in his chair at a Monaco press conference. The more honest appraisals of his Chelsea career would incite rather stronger criticism than a killer stare and now is surely to time to cut and run.
If Napoli can be convinced to part ways with more than $40 million for a left-footed defender with two right feet who couldn’t even make the matchday squad during Chelsea’s worst run of form in 30 years, more fool them.
Liam Delap
Liam Delap
Liam Delap is expected to leave Chelsea. | Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Age: 23
Position: Center forward
Asking price: $40.4 million
Linked clubs: Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Everton, Leeds
Verdict: Loan (or sell with a buy-back clause)
Liam Delap’s Chelsea career started with disappointment and never got much better. The England U-21 international had been eyeing last summer’s European Championship all year only to be told that his new team would require his services at the Club World Cup. “I was really looking forward to that,” the ex-Ipswich Town striker admitted at the time. “But I signed here and they wanted me to be here.”
Delap would get his first goal for the Blues in the bloated international tournament, a horrible scuffed effort against the might of ES Tunis. “Hopefully it’s the first of many,” he grinned. It would prove to be the first of three.
There appear to be a glut of Premier League suitors prepared to give Delap another shot at proving his potential. Chelsea definitely don’t have enough room upfront to accommodate the 23-year-old, especially without any European competition, so he needs to move on. But a loan or a sale with some form of buy-back clause could spare the Blues from giving up on their gamble too early.
Nicolas Jackson
Nicolas Jackson
Nicolas Jackson did not meet the conditions of the transfer obligation in his loan agreement. | Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Age: 25
Position: Center forward
Asking price: $87.4 million
Linked clubs: Tottenham, Aston Villa
Verdict: Keep
Nicolas Jackson is an easy player to ridicule but there is an abundance of oft-overlooked talent at Alonso’s disposal. Across the last four seasons, split between three clubs in as many different elite European leagues, Jackson has averaged a goal or an assist ever 131 minutes. These top-line numbers are reflected by consistently excellent expected goal statistics, highlighting how the admittedly raw forward reliably gets into goalscoring positions.
Whether he finishes these chances is another question—as is his disciplinary record—but should Chelsea successfully whittle their stable of strikers down to João Pedro, Danny Welbeck plus one other, Alonso could do a lot worse than Jackson.
Selling such a talent to a direct Premier League rival would be an intriguing approach.
Malo Gusto
Malo Gusto
Malo Gusto was one of Chelsea’s few bright spots. | Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC/Getty Images
Age: 23
Position: Right back
Asking price: $100.9 million
Linked clubs: Man City
Verdict: Sell
Chelsea’s approach in the case of Malo Gusto will likely depend on the level of interest from any potential suitor. Ex-Blues boss Enzo Maresca has been tipped to take the France international to Manchester City this summer. If the Cityzens can be convinced to crack triple digits for a defend who’s questionable in one-on-one duels and has a desperate lack of forward thrust, Chelsea would be morally obliged to take advantage.
Such a sum would seem unlikely, so it is instead a question of how low Chelsea would be willing to go.
In an ideal world, Alonso would be able to count upon Reece James as his first-choice right back and have young Josh Acheampong as an able deputy. But James’s fitness cannot be trusted and his compatriot is still an unproven 20-year-old. This is precisely why Marco Palestra was brought in from Atalanta at such great expense, freeing up Gusto for a swift move away.
Pedro Neto
Pedro Neto
Pedro Neto is the latest Chelsea player to be linked with an exit. | Izzy Poles/AMA/Getty Images
Age: 26
Position: Winger
Asking price: $100.9 million
Linked clubs: Man City
Verdict: Sell
Pedro Neto is one of those fascinating players who seems to spend a lot of time exerting a great deal of energy to achieve surprisingly little. One of Chelsea’s most frequent starters scored five goals and registered six assists in the Premier League last season. Neto was outscored by Taty Castellanos, who joined a relegation-bound West Ham side in January.
There are other wingers Chelsea could perhaps do with offloading before getting to Neto—Jamie Gittens leaps out as one example—but an offer anywhere near $100 million would surely be hard to turn down, especially if Alonso does end up deploying a 3-4-2-1 system which has no natural spot for the touchline-hugging winger.
Enzo Fernandez
Enzo Fernández
Enzo Fernández’s Chelsea future is far from clear. | Visionhaus/Getty Images
Age: 25
Position: Midfielder
Asking price: $161.4 million
Linked clubs: Man City, Atlético Madrid, PSG
Verdict: Keep (with a caveat)
Moisés Caicedo’s feelings about his teammate are abundantly clear. “I love Enzo,” his fellow midfielder recently gushed. “He knows I have a lot of respect for him. We know the player he is and he is also a great person. I want him to stay. If he stays here he is going to be massive for us.”
Yet, Fernández ‘wanting’ to stay has not always been so obvious. In fact, the Argentina international spent much of last season openly flirting with Real Madrid. Now that the Spanish giants have emphatically shut down the prospect of splashing $161.4 million on an attacking midfielder they don’t need, it’s not clear where Fernández would go.
Should the talented box-crashing creator be inclined to test himself under the stewardship of Alonso, he would offer a unique skillset to a richly talented midfield area that could be shared by Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers. However, Chelsea have enough central options to cash in on their costly investment if Fernández is still intent on moving away.
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