Chelsea sanction £132m exodus as insider confirms four departures, with more exits possible

Romelu Lukaku, Ian Maatsen, Haki Ziyech, Armando Broja, Chelsea

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed Chelsea plan to cull Romelu Lukaku, Ian Maatsen, Hakim Ziyech and Armando Broja this summer, with other exits still possible.

The Todd Boehly era at Stamford Bridge has seen a huge turnover of players in the first two years. Last summer, 12 players were signed permanently by the Blues.

That meant that a lot of players also had to be sold, and 14 players left the club permanently.

Those included big names such as Kai Havertz and Mason Mount, who both joined Premier League rivals of Chelsea for relatively large fees.

With a big spend once again reported to be in the offing, more big departures will have to happen for the club to remain on the right side of Financial FairPlay regulations.

Indeed, it has frequently been suggested that some homegrown players, Conor Gallagher the main name brought up, will have to be sold so that Chelsea can gain pure profit from the transfer.

The potential of the Englishman leaving on the summer continues to be mentioned, with no contract renewal in place yet.

However, transfer insider Romano has essentially confirmed that four more men are going to be heading out the door.

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Chelsea to let £132m worth of players go

Indeed, he has revealed that Lukaku and Maatsen – both currently out on loan – will join Ziyech and Broja in leaving, with plans already in place for the latter pair to go.

“We’re likely to see departures at Chelsea this summer, particularly with the players who are currently out on loan,” Romano told Caught Offside.

“As previously reported, the plan is for Armando Broja to be sold once he comes back from his loan at Fulham, and Hakim Ziyech can already be considered to have played his last game for Chelsea. I also expect Romelu Lukaku and Ian Maatsen to leave Chelsea.”

Broja can reportedly be bought for Fulham, where he’s currently on loan, for a very low fee, while Galatasaray’s obligation to sign Ziyech will reportedly be triggered.

As for Lukaku and Maatsen, it is not clear where they’ll end up, but the former is the subject of reports that he’ll join the Saudi Pro League, while the latter wants to remain with Borussia Dortmund, but has other suitors.

More exits possible

The Chelsea exodus might not stop there, though, as Romano has suggested there are still moves to be made regarding more Blues players.

“But for the others we have to wait and see what happens,” he said.

For the likes of Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah, who it’s frequently suggested will be moved on, that suggests their futures remain up in the air.