Chelsea braced for summer exodus over new contract stance
Chelsea's owners are prepared to part ways with a number of players during the coming summer transfer window as part of their new approach to contracts, 90min understands.
The Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital ownership have been keen to tie their top stars down to new contracts this season and have wrapped up most of Chelsea's young talents on mammoth long-term deals, with Mason Mount a noticeable exception.
Mount is approaching the final 12 months of his current contract and has rejected Chelsea's offers of an extension. 90min understands his preference would be to remain at Stamford Bridge but he is yet to be satisfied with the terms offered to him.
Chelsea are determined to keep Mount but are prepared to offload the academy graduate in the summer if he continues to refuse their offers, with the Boehly-Clearlake group adamant no player will be allowed to leave on a free transfer.
Ideally, Chelsea's ownership want to avoid players entering the final two years of their deals and that stance will be on show during the summer when decisions are made on a number of first-team players.
N'Golo Kante, whose contract expires this summer, is in advanced talks over an extension which would leave third-choice goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli as the only player at risk of leaving at the end of his contract this year.
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However, when it comes to 2024, there are a number of players who could all be shown the exit door if they fail to commit their futures to Chelsea. Mateo Kovacic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic and Mount are all on expiring deals, but veteran centre-back Thiago Silva, whose contract also runs until 2024, is seen as an exception given his age.
Of that group, Kovacic has held talks over an extension but those negotiations are yet to make any real progress.
Chelsea also have a number of players whose deals run until 2025. Goalkeepers Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy both have around 18 months on their contracts, and as it stands, it's the latter who appears most likely to leave in the summer.
Hakim Ziyech, who came close to joining PSG on loan in January, is also expected to leave, while decisions will also be made on Kai Havertz and Ben Chilwell. The left-back is wanted by Manchester City in the summer if Chelsea do decide to sell, although the 26-year-old has been an integral part of Graham Potter's side and is understood to be happy at Stamford Bridge.
Midfielder Conor Gallagher, a winter target for Everton, has held talks over an extension to his current deal, which expires in 2025, but the academy graduate is another who is yet to see any real progress in those negotiations.
Chelsea are planning for another busy summer as they seek to trim the bloated squad built up over the last two transfer windows. The Blues hope to raise plenty of money to fund further signings, with Napoli's Victor Osimhen a top target and Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa on the radar.
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On this edition of Son of Chelsea, part of the 90min podcast network, Daniel Childs reacts to Chelsea's 3-1 win over Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday to make it three wins in a row for Graham Potter.
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