Chelsea’s Premier League rivals believe the club must make major sales by June 30 to avoid the threat of running into profit and sustainability trouble.

Speculation among some of Chelsea’s rivals is that they need to raise around £100 million by the end of June this year. Club sources refute that figure and stress any early sales would be done with making signings in mind, rather than needing to bring in cash before the next PSR cut-off.

Regardless of the reasons why, Chelsea are braced for another summer exodus of players. They proved they can bring in quick cash last year by raising over £130 million before June 30, although the task is complicated this year by the European Championships, which run from June 14 to July 14.

Since taking over the club from Roman Abramovich, co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly have spent over £1 billion on new players, but have also recouped almost £400 million in sales.

Chelsea have not commented on their profit and sustainability situation, but there is a feeling that rumours of needing to raise £100 million by June 30 could constitute mischief-making among clubs seeking to try to create more uncertainty around the club and some of their players.

Newcastle United’s obligation to buy Lewis Hall is on course to guarantee Chelsea a quick £28 million without the need for any further negotiation.

Chelsea will expect to earn over £30 million from the permanent sale of Belgium international Romelu Lukaku after agreeing a £37 million release clause in the new contract he signed before joining Roma on loan last season.

While Roma might not be able to fund a move for Lukaku, his 24 goals for club and country this season will attract new interest from Saudi Arabia in the 30-year-old.

Chelsea also inserted a £35 million release clause into the contract of Ian Maatsen before he joined Borussia Dortmund on loan in January, which they expect to be triggered.

Left-back Maatsen has been a regular for Dortmund since moving to Germany and the Bundesliga club may face competition for his permanent signature.

Selling Lukaku and Maatsen for anywhere close to their release clauses would just about guarantee Chelsea £100 million from sales, but the club will also look to offload Trevoh Chalobah and Armando Broja, while the futures of England international Conor Gallagher and Marc Cucurella are in doubt. The expectation remains that Chelsea will make Gallagher some sort of contract offer to extend his deal, but an agreement is still far from certain.

Chelsea opened the door for Gallagher to move to Everton in a deal worth £45 million just over a year ago, but the player was not interested in swapping Stamford Bridge for Goodison Park.

Raising significant money by June 30 from the sales of Hall, Maatsen and Lukaku would put Chelsea in a better negotiating position over Gallagher, who Tottenham Hotspur will make a bid for if he does not agree a new contract.

Having raised over £130 million from the sales of Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz and Ruben Loftus-Cheek by June 30 last year, Chelsea earned another £100 million-plus after that from selling Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic and Ethan Ampadu, as well as bringing in a number of loan fees.

Chelsea left all their spending until after the end of June last year, which they may choose to do again, eventually spending over £448.5 million which included the £115 million British record signing of Moises Caicedo.

That left Chelsea with a post-June 30 deficit of more than £200 million last year, with clubs allowed to report losses of up to £105 million over a three-year period to remain within profit and sustainability rules.

The final date of the financial reporting year is June 30, which last year created an unofficial transfer deadline day.