Chelsea waved goodbye to three players on Wednesday during a busy day in the summer transfer window.
The Blues confirmed yesterday the sales of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Everton and Lesley Ugochukwu to Burnley. In addition, they announced that Marc Guiu has joined Sunderland on a season-long loan.
Apparently, Chelsea will continue to offload more players at a rapid rate because they are working behind the scenes to generate more cash and trim down the squad size.
The Chelsea Chronicle has decided to grade the three players who departed Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Chelsea midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall during the Conference League semi-final second leg against Djurgarden.
Photo by Vince Mignott/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images
Dewsbury-Hall, who joined the Blues from Leicester City a year ago, has left on a permanent basis already. However, we feel the 26-year-old midfielder made a positive impact during just one season in West London.
The Englishman understood his role perfectly as a squad option, making 36 appearances across all competitions last term and stepping in effectively whenever called upon.
In terms of Chelsea’s decision to sell Dewsbury-Hall to Everton, we’re generally positive about it.
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After signing him for £30m last year, Chelsea will recoup at least £25m for Dewsbury-Hall, so they’ve not taken a gigantic hit on him. It is worth adding that he played a crucial role in the Blues winning the Conference League, too.
The reality is that Dewsbury-Hall’s sale made sense to make room for Andrey Santos. While we wouldn’t have minded seeing him stay for another year, his move to Everton feels a bit of a no-brainer for everyone involved.
Grade: B
Lesley Ugochukwu
Lesley Ugochukwu playing for Chelsea against Blackburn Rovers in the Carabao Cup.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Like Dewsbury-Hall, Ugochukwu’s transfer to Burnley makes sense for both the player and the buyers. In particular, the Clarets should be delighted about purchasing a talented defensive midfielder with a lot of potential.
Burnley Football Club are delighted to confirm the signing of French midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee ✍️
Welcome to Burnley, Lesley 🙌
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) August 6, 2025
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From Chelsea’s perspective, the decision to sell Ugochukwu makes sense when you consider Dario Essugo has effectively replaced him in the Blues squad.
However, the 21-year-old Burnley signing definitely has a lot of quality and potential, something he showed in glimpses on loan with Southampton last year. Perhaps another loan would have been the safer option from Chelsea this summer, but we don’t mind the club cashing in now either.
Incidentally, Chelsea should receive over £20m for Ugochukwu, so they could make their money back on the £23m they spent to sign him from Rennes two years ago.
Grade: C
Marc Guiu
Marc Guiu playing for Chelsea against Servette in a Conference League play-off tie.
Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Finally, Guiu left Chelsea this week on a temporary basis to join Sunderland, who are likely to be another team fighting down towards the bottom end of the Premier League in the upcoming season.
On paper, the decision to send the 19-year-old striker to the Stadium of Light on loan feels like an excellent move from the Blues hierarchy.
Guiu, who did encounter injury problems, only played 16 games across all competitions last year during his first season with Chelsea. Hopefully, he’s now set for regular Premier League minutes and rapid development at Sunderland.
The only risk regarding Guiu’s loan move is there is no guarantee he will play, even though we expect the teenage centre-forward to elevate the Sunderland attack. However, it’s brilliant to hear that Chelsea have inserted a clause in Guiu’s loan that means they will receive a penalty fee if he doesn’t make a certain amount of appearances.
Grade: A