{"id":6369,"date":"2026-05-09T08:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T08:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=6369"},"modified":"2026-05-09T08:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T08:49:10","slug":"427m-fire-sale-to-fix-blueco-mess-as-12-blues-stars-tipped-for-axe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=6369","title":{"rendered":"\u00a3427m fire sale to fix BlueCo mess as 12 Blues stars tipped for axe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>In vain hope of the Chelsea clearout starting at the top we\u2019ve cast an eye over what \u00a31.8bn buys you in human assets and decided a deadwood fire sale is required this summer.<\/p>\n<p>BlueCo are evidently the villains at what still purports to be a football club but an utter shambles of one as it\u2019s been treated like a private equity experiment by the self-appointed smartest people in the room who have proven time again over their four-year reign that they are in fact the stupidest.<\/p>\n<p>Many of their mistakes \u2013 <strong>but by no means all of them \u2013<\/strong> have centred around a unique approach to the transfer market which has seen them spend an absurd amount of money on children to make <strong>Chelsea<\/strong> considerably worse at football.<\/p>\n<p>The model has failed spectacularly and 12 of the current 26-man squad should be sold to make space for the next lorry load of teenage punts. They spent \u00a3427m on these chumps.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Robert Sanchez \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>The greatest exponent of false calm in football history. While he exudes composure, everyone except members of the opposite team set to benefit from his next inevitable mistake are in a state of sheer panic.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all tried to look as though we know what we\u2019re doing in a job or situation without really having a clue and there\u2019s logic to the \u2018fake it til you make it\u2019 strategy even in top-level football. But being a goalkeeper requires some anxiety; at the very least a bit of urgency.<\/p>\n<p>Sanchez is far too cool and while this sounds like a big positive, also far too unfazed after making a mistake. It\u2019s as though he needs to be slapped around the chops and told \u2018that was your fault, mate\u2019 and even then would dawdle painfully in possession and wait for a big gap between two opposition players to close before attempting to split them with an impossible eye-of-the-needle pass.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Filip Jorgensen \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>The implosion of Chelsea\u2019s season can be traced back to his <strong>awful goal-gifting mistake against PSG<\/strong> in a chance to stake a claim for the No.1 spot that he fluffed spectacularly.<\/p>\n<p>Incredible to think now that Chelsea were drawing 2-2 with PSG at the Parcs des Princes in the 74th minute less than two months ago and were arguably the better team before Jorgensen\u2019s errant pass.<\/p>\n<p>Including what turned into a 5-2 defeat on the night, Chelsea have lost eight of their ten games since in all competitions, conceding 20 goals and scoring nine, with seven of those coming against a Port Vale side that\u2019s just been relegated to League Two. And it\u2019s all Jorgensen\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Gabriel Slonina \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>He may only be 21 but if he can\u2019t get a game ahead of Sanchez and Jorgensen there\u2019s surely no hope.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Marc Cucurella \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>Some of the fanbase may not have been all that enamoured with <strong>Cucurella breaking ranks during the international break<\/strong>but he was essentially voicing the very same opinions they will have been spouting over pints down the pub: owners don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing; transfer policy makes no sense; shouldn\u2019t have sacked Enzo Maresca.<\/p>\n<p><strong>He was truly awful in the defeat to Nottingham Forest<\/strong> but he remains one of the best one-on-one defenders in the Premier League and we have zero confidence in the various inadequate directors fetching a decent price for him if they did want him out.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Tosin Adarabioyo \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>He\u2019s 28 until he\u2019s 29 and Chelsea need every ounce of experience to remain in the squad.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Benoit Badiashile \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>A once very promising central defender tipped to be the next big thing in the French national team has never truly recovered from <strong>Thierry Henry glaring at him to tuck his chair in<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Levi Colwill \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p><strong>A huge miss this season forecasted by Maresca only for BlueCo to ignore his wishes for a replacement<\/strong> to Chelsea\u2019s great cost. Grew into a serious centre-back in the second half of last season and displayed much-needed leadership qualities too.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Mamadou Sarr \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>Made a glaring error against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea have had innumerable centre-backs of late \u2018with all the attributes\u2019 like Sarr who have turned out to be absolute stinkers; there\u2019s only space for one of those in the squad.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Jorrel Hato \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>That one is Hato, and as fully paid up members of <strong>the Todd Boehly school of sporting directorship<\/strong>the Netherlands international gets the edge over Sarr on the basis of Arsenal being very keen before he signed for Chelsea. The Gunners have an outstanding recent record of signing defenders.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Trevoh Chalobah \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019re willing to risk descending into \u2018knows the club\u2019 territory as we\u2019re not wholly convinced Chalobah is a centre-back good enough for the level Chelsea hope to reach \u2013 y\u2019know, the one they were at before BlueCo arrived.<\/p>\n<p>But the BlueCo chiefs have also done sterling work to rip the soul out of the club through offloading academy graduates for \u2018pure profit\u2019 and Chalobah would at the very least be a very capable backup.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Wesley Fofana \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019re not sure what\u2019s more laughable, <strong>Fofana\u2019s agent \u2018offering\u2019 him to Barcelona<\/strong> or the La Liga giants \u2018considering\u2019 a move for a perennially injured centre-back who\u2019s never looked close to the \u00a340m player he was at Leicester, let alone a guy worth the \u00a372m Chelsea actually paid for him.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Josh Acheampong \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>One of very few positives for Chelsea to take from this season and used far too infrequently, to the extent where the 20-year-old is reportedly <strong>considering his options for the future<\/strong>. Tall, quick, reads the game well and he\u2019s a delight with the ball at his feet, gliding through challenges to break the press.<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea fans are forced to watch Marc Guehi (hilarious Everton blunder aside) star for Manchester City and England having not been given a chance at Stamford Bridge, and Acheampong has the talent to engender similar regrets when BlueCo sell him for \u00a320m this summer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Reece James \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>A world class right-back and \u2013 as it turns out \u2013 a very accomplished central midfielder too. Signed a new contract last month having stayed fit for the majority of the season. It\u2019s surely no coincidence that James picked up his hamstring injury at the start of this horror run.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Malo Wants \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>We ummed and ahhed for a good while as his pathetic and lazy shirt pull on Taiwo Awoniyi in the embarrassing defeat to Forest offered ammo for those doubting whether Gusto has the mettle for Chelsea, but they would be hard pushed to find a better right-back willing to play second fiddle to James.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Dario Essugo \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>Honestly we have no idea if he\u2019s any good or not, but going on BlueCo\u2019s track record of signing players for \u00a320m-odd we can say with some level of confidence that he won\u2019t be good enough.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Andrey Santos \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>A press-resistant midfielder who looks forward first; they\u2019re a rare breed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Moises Caicedo \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>He looks a long, long way off the form that saw debates raging before the turn of the year over who was a better midfielder between <strong>him or Declan Rice<\/strong>but those conversations even being held is testament to Caicedo\u2019s ability at the base of midfield.<\/p>\n<p>We hate to give BlueCo their dues, but getting him to sign a new deal was important at a point in the season when Caicedo and his agent might just have been keeping their ear to the ground for prospective buyers, of which there would have been plenty.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Romeo Lavia \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>He drops the shoulder to beat the press roughly twice per game to suggest he might just be the best midfielder in the world. But he too rarely fails to affect the game in a positive way, has been injured for the vast majority of his Chelsea career and there should be serious concerns over the lack of creativity in a Caicedo-Lavia midfield pairing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Enzo Fernandez \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>Thirteen goals from midfield and there\u2019s an inextricable link between <strong>Chelsea and Fernandez playing well this season<\/strong>. But he very clearly doesn\u2019t want to be there, is also evidently <strong>a bit of a pr*ck<\/strong> and amid a financial crisis Chelsea could really do with what will be his sizeable transfer fee, if not the full \u00a3105m whack they paid for him. Take the hit and get him out.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Jamie Gittens \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>Any Chelsea fan would have told you within ten minutes of his debut that while Gittens may have the requisite quality to play for the Blues, he doesn\u2019t have the character.<\/p>\n<p>Now more than ever Chelsea need players who are going to fight and take games by the scruff of the neck and Gittens has the distinct whiff of a player who will roll over at the first sign of strife.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Alejandro Garnacho \u2013 SELL<\/h2>\n<p>Few will admit it now but plenty of people would have looked at \u00a340m for Garnacho and seen it as decent business.<\/p>\n<p>A 21-year-old winger who had already made 144 senior appearances for Manchester United, had eight caps for Argentina, shown himself capable of the extraordinary and was \u2018untouchable\u2019 a year before his acrimonious Old Trafford exit had the potential to be a star and should at the very least retain his value.<\/p>\n<p>But we should never overlook the extraordinary degree to which <strong>young Manchester United stars are overrated<\/strong>nor how Stamford Bridge has become an unparalleled landing spot for promising players to fail to reach their potential.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Pedro Neto \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>Incredibly frustrating at times as Chelsea fans endlessly advise him to \u2018beat your f***ing man\u2019 as he turns back and plays a simple pass, but under the right coach he could be very, very useful.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Cole Palmer \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>The form of a footballer we thought immune to pressure when he swanned in to Stamford Bridge and took the Premier League by storm has nosedived dramatically in an injury-hit season.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s really quite unpleasant to see Palmer not enjoying his football and amid reports claiming <strong>BlueCo will under no circumstances consider his sale to Manchester United<\/strong> or anyone else this summer, one of the first priorities for the new manager will be to work out how to get the very best out of him next season.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Estevao \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>A breath of unpredictable fresh air and <strong>a possible future Ballon d\u2019Or winner<\/strong>presumably away from Chelsea.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Marc Guiu \u2013 SEAL<\/h2>\n<p>Chelsea will likely get more than the \u00a35m they paid, but it was a baffling move for Guiu to have made.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Joao Pedro \u2013 KEEP<\/h2>\n<p>His wonderful overhead kick in the 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest took him to 20 goals for the season to go with nine assists in a hugely impressive debut season for Chelsea, in which he\u2019s maintained a high level while others around him have slumped, as evidenced by his market value rising from \u00a343m to \u00a365m.<\/p>\n<p>An excellent all-round striker the likes of which Chelsea haven\u2019t seen since Diego Costa was dismissed via Antonio Conte text message over eight years ago.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<p><script>\n       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