Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol answers the key questions around the on and off-field drama that’s going on at Chelsea after the club kicked off their Premier League season with defeat to Man City and forward Raheem Sterling issued a statement after his omission from the matchday squad.
It has been a busy summer for new boss Enzo Maresca. Transfers in and out have been in focus, with Chelsea spending big in the market once again but also seeming to usher several academy graduates towards the exit door, while Sterling’s ‘camp’ spoke out after his future at the club was put into doubt.
There has also been an incident involving midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who was filmed chanting a derogatory song about the heritage of France internationals with his Argentina team-mates, which has been investigated by both Chelsea and FIFA.
On top of all that, the head coach has had to navigate a poor run of results in pre-season as he looks to embed a new style of play at Chelsea.
Here, Sky Sports News’ chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol explains the story around some of those big issues…
Is Raheem Sterling going to leave Chelsea before the window closes?
Chelsea would listen to offers for him. He’s on big wages compared to players they’re bringing in and I feel Chelsea would like him to go. Perhaps that would be a potential loan deal, which could ease the wage burden.
But as he said in his statement, he has three years left on his contract and is within his rights to stay and fight for a place in the team. However, on Sunday, there were five wide players in the squad and he wasn’t one of them.
Enzo Maresca spoke to him on Friday and explained for technical reasons he wouldn’t be involved. If you read between the lines, the message being sent to him is his future may not be at this club.
Is Ben Chilwell’s time at Chelsea up too?
Chelsea have been diplomatic around Chilwell – but it’s clear Maresca doesn’t see him fitting into his style of play. He’s still training with the first team, although he was ill last week.
But like Sterling, he is another big earner. The owners inherited a squad with many players earning big money and one of the main targets has been to cut the wage bill.
Now, the average wage is about £70k per week (with big bonuses and incentives). But the big earners have a target on their back. Kepa Arrizabalaga is another big earner – what’s next for him after his loan to Real Madrid didn’t work out?
Conor Gallagher seems to be in limbo – will he stay or go?
The expectation at Chelsea is he will be leaving. The club gave him some time off after the move to Atletico Madrid stalled and he’s had to start his pre-season almost from scratch. Interestingly, he wasn’t listed on the club’s matchday programme for the Man City match.
However, his future depends on what happens to Joao Felix coming in the opposite direction from Atletico. The Spanish club have spent big money on Man City’s Julian Alvarez and need to sell Joao Felix.
Are the owners damaging the relationship with the fanbase by trying to sell popular homegrown players such as Gallagher?
The fans certainly love Gallagher. He was captain for a lot of games last season and you could hear the fans singing his name when Erling Haaland scored Man City’s opener.
Trevoh Chalobah, another academy graduate, wasn’t listed on the matchday programme, either. Neither were Armando Broja – who seems set to go on loan to Ipswich – or Romelu Lukaku (more on him below).
From the owners’ perspective, they will say they bought a club on its knees – and when they got inside, the club’s situation was worse than they thought. Chelsea had been sanctioned by the government and were deemed to have fallen behind clubs such as Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal. They felt they had to start from scratch and they have replaced almost everyone – recruitment teams, medical teams, groundsmen… The pace of change is frightening.
A lot of Chelsea fans will say it wasn’t that bad. They had a very good manager in Thomas Tuchel, they won the Champions League and were Club World Cup champions three months before the new owners arrived. The fans will say it didn’t need emergency surgery – and perhaps they feel the soul has been ripped out of the club. That too much changed too quickly and they have been left with a starting XI they can’t identify with.
The owners will counter that and say it will take time. But this is the season where you have to judge the owners. They have the structure, head coach, style of play and squad they want. There are no more excuses.
Was it right to hand Enzo Fernandez the captain’s armband so soon after the racism storm he was involved in?
It was a strange decision and brings unwanted headlines, more controversy. He is still under investigation by FIFA for that incident.
Maresca says he made a mistake but it is more than making a mistake – you have to be seen to be punished. It would have been controversial just to play him but to make him captain? Reece James is club captain, although he is injured again and Maresca didn’t clearly state James would remain captain when he was asked in pre-season, describing him as “one of the captains”.
In contrast to Fernandez on Sunday, we saw Mateo Kovacic score the clinching goal for Man City, a central midfielder Chelsea sold for £25m cutting through a midfield which cost over £200m.
There is a lot of youth in this Chelsea team, but where are the leaders?
Is the Romelu Lukaku/Victor Osimhen trade with Napoli going to come off?
Napoli need Lukaku, Chelsea need Osimhen – the smart money is on those deals happening.
Osimhen would change the mood at Chelsea. He’s the player Chelsea fans want. He has got the personality, experience and presence they need. Someone in the mould of Didier Drogba or Diego Costa. A superstar. But the problem is his wages.
Napoli can’t afford him. They gave him a new contract but he’s on massive wages. He wasn’t involved on Sunday in their bad defeat to Verona and is training away from the first team. PSG are also in the mix but Chelsea know Napoli want Lukaku.
Chelsea don’t want to pay over odds, though – and they won’t be paying him £300k per week.
Chelsea have received an official bid from Napoli for Lukaku. It is understood the proposal is an initial loan with an obligation to buy. The total package is worth £25.5m (€30m) – including the loan fee.
Chelsea have made it clear they want a permanent deal and the offer falls short in two respects: the overall valuation and the fact that it is a loan plus an obligation are not satisfactory to Chelsea.
This is a deal which looks like it will happen – but closer to deadline day.
And that is when we can really judge the shape of this Chelsea squad: when the transfer window is closed, when the players who they want out are gone and the ones they want in have or haven’t arrived.