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Chelsea set to offload most and least cost-effective stars in summer sale as squad ranked
Chelsea are overhauling their squad this summer and could wave goodbye to a number of first-team stars, but which players provided most value for money last season?
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Chelsea are freshening up their squad with an aggressive transfer strategy this summer which has seen deals for Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner already secured. The Blues are now targeting Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz as well as free agent Thiago Silva but Frank Lampard is also set to offload a number of unwanted stars.
Emerson Palmieri is expected to reunite with former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte at Inter Milan while Tiemoue Bakayoko is on the verge of joining AC Milan.
Interest in Jorginho has cooled since Maurizio Sarri departed Juventus but N'Golo Kante is attracting attention from around Europe while Michy Batshuayi is expected to leave Stamford Bridge if a buyer can be found.
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The same is true of Danny Drinkwater, Victor Moses and Davide Zappacosta if potential suitors are keen on picking up the unwanted trio while Lampard supposedly wants to offload out-of-favour goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Willian and Pedro have already left the club upon the expiration of their contracts while there are reports that Fikayo Tomori could be one of several young players sent out on loan this season.
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However, that could be a mistake based on the latest research from BettingOdds.com which highlights how much Premier League players were paid per minute during the 2019/20 campaign.
That data puts Tomori top of the pile as the most cost-effective player in Lampard's squad, with his contribution to the first team belying his low wages.
The 22-year-old made 15 Premier League appearances last term, with all but one coming before the turn of the year, and was paid just £491 per minute for his services.
Compare this to Batshuayi, who played 226 minutes of top-flight football at a rate of £23,009 per minute, and it's easy to see why Chelsea are so keen to offload the Belgian.
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The research has been specifically designed to give an accurate representation of each player's contribution, taking into account injuries and mid-season transfers.
Each squad member's yearly salary has been reduced by the number of weeks they missed through injuries, while the same deductions were applied for players who left or joined the club in the January transfer window - although this is not applicable in Chelsea's case.
Key points Blues fans will be keen to note are the high cost-per-minute of academy graduates Billy Gimour and Callum Hudson-Odoi after the pair recently signed long-term contracts.
At the opposite end of the scale, club captain Cesar Azpilicueta shows what a servant he is to the club with the lowest pay-per-minute figure of just £1,449.
Chelsea players ranked by earnings per minute – Premier League 2019/20
Michy Batshuayi - £23,009 per minute / Played 226 minutes
Billy Gilmour - £11,043 per minute / Played 192 minutes
Callum Hudson-Odoi - £5,506 per minute / Played 850 minutes
Olivier Giroud - £4,845 per minute / Played 999 minutes
Christian Pulisic - £3,953 per minute / Played 1,726 minutes
Ruben Loftus-Cheek - £3,757 per minute / Played 205 minutes
Ross Barkley - £3,745 per minute / Played 1,104 minutes
Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma - £3,312 per minute / Played 662 minutes
Marcos Alonso - £3,282 per minute / Played 1,432 minutes
N'Golo Kante - £3,246 per minute / Played 1,733 minutes
Willian - £2,715 per minute / Played 2,601 minutes
Willy Caballero - £2,667 per minute / Played 450 minutes
Kepa Arrizabalaga - £2,626 per minute / Played 2,970 minutes
Mateo Kovacic - £2,506 per minute / Played 2,073 minutes
Antonio Rudiger - £2,497 per minute / Played 1,710 minutes
Reece James - £2,274 per minute / Played 1,513 minutes
Jorginho - £2,265 per minute / Played 2,384 minutes
Andreas Christensen - £2,237 per minute / Played 1,752 minutes
Tammy Abraham - £2,206 per minute / Played 2,221 minutes
Emerson Palmieri - £2,158 per minute / Played 1,025 minutes
Kurt Zouma - £1,642 per minute / Played 2,343 minutes
Mason Mount - £1,602 per minute / Played 2,872 minutes
César Azpilicueta - £1,449 per minute / Played 3,230 minutes
Fikayo Tomori - £491 per minute / Played 1,293 minutes
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