Transfers: Arsenal suffer blow as Rice gives Chelsea boost
Chelsea are thriving in the present, following a successful 2020 summer transfer window by lifting the Champions League last season. However, club director Marina Granovskaia faces a major headache over more than a dozen first-team players' futures over the next 12 months.
Several Chelsea players are nearing the end of their contracts. (Image: GETTY)
2022 expiry
Charly Musonda (24), Lewis Baker (26) and Matt Miazga (26) are three players who will be allowed to negotiate with clubs over a free transfer from January.
Also on the fringes of Tuchel's plans, Davide Zappacosta (29) is also in the final year of his contract.
Chelsea could face significant losses on a few players they signed for hefty fees. Tiemoue Bakayoko (26) and Danny Drinkwater (31) are all surely in the shop window this summer.
Two of Tuchel's three first-team left-backs - Emerson Palmieri (26) and Baba Rahman (27) - are also free to negotiate an exit in January.
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Essential centre-back trio Andreas Christensen (25), Antonio Rudiger (28) and Thiago Silva (35), too, face uncertain futures.
That's despite Chelsea sanctioning the sales of two of their most promising centre-halves - Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi.
Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta (31) is also nearing the end of his current contract, whilst Chelsea are actively looking to offload Tammy Abraham (23).
With the Blues valuing Abraham north of £30million this summer, they will be desperate not to lose him for free, especially to reported suitors Arsenal.
Tuchel can only do so much with his players on the pitch, but director Granovskaia has plenty of work to do off it.
It's an abnormal situation that could end in financial tragedy for Chelsea. However, it's easily fixable if the players approached over new deals want to stay.
With just over a month of the summer transfer window left, expect activity in the form of players going in and out at Chelsea.
And Granovskaia must look to fix those deals expiring in 2023 before their transfer value plummets next year.
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