Thomas Tuchel’s been linked with big buys of Erling Haaland and Achraf Hakimi amongst others, but the Chelsea boss won’t simply be stocking up on treasures.
The German is said to be ready to sell five senior Chelsea figures and perhaps two more, depending on who does arrive at Stamford Bridge this summer.
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The Express says that Tuchel will try to get some money for Tammy Abraham, Marcos Alonso, Emerson Palmieri, Ross Barkley, and Michy Batshuayi and unsure over whether he should sell Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Christensen and Palmieri were linked to a Hakimi swap deal and both carry significant value in any of Europe’s top leagues given their age and talent, while Alonso has plenty of demand in Serie A and La Liga.
But where the real ‘juice’ resides is with Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, and Abraham, and English teams have long been willing to splash extra cash for English players as well as current and former Three Lions stars.
As an aside, in the video above Joe Prince-Wright mentions Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s “rather large checkbook” and frankly I think if I were that rich I would have a comically-large checkbook that tears out those oversized checks you see on television when someone wins $1,000,000. Think about it, big Rom.
How much could each of these players add to whatever limits have been placed on the treble- and/or quadruple-chasing Tuchel’s transfer fund?
Let’s run through the wildly-imperfect but useful fees on transfermarkt.com, which say the septet could land Chelsea just over $150 million (or 3/4 of an Erling Haaland. So, like, Erli Haala).
In terms of the best option of the bunch for improving a good team, that’s probably Christensen for the long-term and Alonso for the short-term. Alonso was quite good in limited time last season and is only 30 if you believe that. He played both legs of the shutout tie versus Atletico Madrid.
On a different level — the “oh, you’re offering what?!?” — is Barkley. And, finally, let’s say Abraham goes for $40 million and Batshuayi half that: Is Tammy’s value really 4x a Michy?
Andreas Christensen
Contract through: 2021-22
Transfermarkt market value: $33 million
Marcos Alonso
Contract through: 2022-23
Transfermarkt market value: $13 million
Emerson Palmieri
Contract through: 2021-22
Transfermarkt market value: $13 million
Ross Barkley
Contract through: 2022-23
Transfermarkt market value: $22 million
Tammy Abraham
Contract through: 2022-23
Transfermarkt market value: $42 million
Michy Batshuayi
Contract through: 2021-22
Transfermarkt market value: $11 million
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Contract through: 2023-24
Transfermarkt market value: $22 million
