Chelsea can now save £30m on next transfer after triple Enzo Maresca green light

It has not yet been reflected in figures revealed publicly, but Chelsea have significantly cut down on their wage bill in the last 12 months. The cost to overhaul the squad inherited by Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital may have come at great expense, but money going out on a weekly basis is expected to come down when the 2023/24 accounts are published.

In truth, they couldn't have been much more inefficient in the first year of the new owners anyway. In 2022/23 the wages were up to £404million per year, an increase of £64million from the previous financial term. That coincided with a drop to 12th in the Premier League.

Over the same period Chelsea also committed a large chunk of their £1billion total spend towards new players on transfers. The incoming amount during the same time has been over £250million.

Outside of a reduction in wages for those who failed to qualify for the Champions League - or any form of European football, for that matter - Chelsea have made strides to move away from paying big money for top players. Gone are the days of splashing out £97million and £325,000 per week on Romelu Lukaku, or even the £45million and £17million salary given to Raheem Sterling.

Instead, Chelsea have moved towards an incentivised structure with lower base wages - although there are still many high earners. It is thought that in 2022/23, including Lukaku, Chelsea had 15 players earning over £150,000 per week. In 2023/24 that is already down to eight, with Lukaku on loan being a ninth for the records.

It will see an enormous swing when the 2023/24 accounts are released. It also shows that there is still room to save money here.

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Lukaku alone, with just one year left on his contract, would cost Chelsea £16.9million to own. Unless he is sold this summer - which is a possibility - he will be eating away at the funds.

The Belgian isn't the only one though. Already the club has shed another £200,000 per week with the exits of Thiago Silva and Hakim Ziyech. That equates to over £10million per year. There is still room to be more ruthless on high earners contributing little, or merely being loaned out.

Malang Sarr has not played for Chelsea in two years but has been collecting around £100,000 per week since the start of his deal in 2020. He will be able to leave on a free in 12 months having come in for nothing, but in the meantime, he has cost the club around £25million in wages during that time though, only to make 21 appearances.

Even if total wages were reduced during the time on loan, Chelsea are likely to have covered some of the payment. Given what he has contributed to the team, it has been largely for nothing.

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Then the final money pit currently is Kepa Arrizabalaga. Signed in 2018, the Spaniard has been at the club for all but one of his six years so far but has very rarely been able to justify the £150,000 per week he is reportedly earning. Kepa is another who will be out of contract next summer but Chelsea will still be keen to save themselves as much of the almost £8million he could end up costing in wages if he was to stay.

In total, these three alone, none of who have clear first-team roles next season under Maresca and are expected to be sold, could effectively save Chelsea £30million this summer. That can not only be spent on handing deserved pay rises to Conor Gallagher or Cole Palmer, but also to be used in transfers as well.

Other players in the group on large wages who are yet to truly justify it, other than Sterling who football.london understands is keen to stay at the club this summer despite relative underperformance, are Marc Cucurella (£175,000 per week, over £9million a year) and Mykhailo Mudryk (£100,000 per week, £5.2million a year).

Both have offered sparks of form but cost the club plenty so far in wages. Chelsea have been close to letting Cucurella leave in the past and should the same happen again then it would free up yet more money.