Chelsea: Conor Gallagher heads homegrown quartet ready to stand firm in possible transfer battle

Chelsea’s homegrown stars will not be rushed into finding a new club if the Blues need to sell them to raise quick cash this summer.

Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah, Ian Maatsen and Armando Broja could all be sold to ensure Chelsea avoid the threat of financial breaches.

Chelsea reportedly need to raise £100million in player sales by June 30 so the sales can be included in their financial accounts for 2023-24.

The Blues insist they continue to stay in line with Premier League profit and sustainability (PSR) rules, but player sales would help them fund further transfer signings after spending more than £1billion since being taken over by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. They hope to sign a striker, centre-back and left-back this summer.

Academy players represent ‘pure profit’ on the balance sheet and many young players in the squad fear they will be at the front of the queue of players the club look to sell. But it is understood Gallagher, Chalobah, Maatsen and Broja have insisted they will wait for the right opportunity.

Gallagher is believed to be valued at £45m-£50m. Tottenham tried to sign him last summer and he would want to move to a top-level Premier League club.

The midfielder will this summer enter the final year of his contract and little progress has been made in talks over a new deal. He hopes to be selected in the England squad for Euro 2024 and will be reluctant to discuss his future during the tournament.

Chalobah turned down a £25m move to Nottingham Forest and Maatsen turned down a £31.5m move to Burnley last summer, despite Chelsea accepting both offers.

Maatsen renewed his contract before joining Borussia Dortmund on loan in January, but the left-back is still likely to be sold and has a £35m release clause. Dortmund and Bayern Munich are interested in a permanent summer transfer for Maatsen.

Chalobah will also target a move to a top English or European club.

Broja will similarly aim high for his next move. He will not join Fulham permanently at the end of his loan deal after managing just 52 minutes since joining them in January. That has reduced his transfer value but has another chance to impress at Euro 2024, and has previously had interest from AC Milan and West Ham.

Premier League clubs have agreed to introduce new financial controls in time for the 2025-2026 season. New “squad cost controls” will set an 85 per cent limit on how much annual revenue can be spent on player costs including transfer fees, wages and agents’ fees.

But PSR rules, which monitors finances over three years, will continue to operate next season to allow clubs to adapt their business models to comply with the new demands.

Chelsea will receive £28m from Newcastle when they make a loan move for left-back Lewis Hall permanent in the summer.

Levi Colwill and Reece James are also homegrown players but Chelsea deny either they or star forward Cole Palmer will be sold.

Receiving anything less than £37m for Romelu Lukaku, on loan at Roma, would be registered as a loss on the accounts. Similarly, anything less than £10m for Kepa Arrizabalaga, on loan at Real Madrid, and £7m for Hakim Ziyech, on loan at Galatasaray, would be booked as losses.

Chelsea have significantly less assets available to sell than last summer when Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic and others left in a fire sale that raised around £400m.