Chelsea to take £41m hit when selling winger as surprise party emerges to help unlock deal
Mykhaylo Mudryk and Christian Pulisic chat before Chelsea game
Chelsea will lose around £41million when selling an attacker to a European giant this summer, and a report has revealed a surprise party who might get involved in the negotiations.
Having spent over £600m in the previous two transfer windows, it is well known that Chelsea will need to offload a host of players this summer to balance the books and allow Mauricio Pochettino to bring in some of his own targets. Luckily for Chelsea, the Saudi Pro League have helped them out.
Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly have gone to the Middle East by joining Al Ahli and Al Hilal respectively. They have followed N’Golo Kante’s lead as he was announced as Al Ittihad’s latest big-name capture on June 21.
Hakim Ziyech, meanwhile, has already agreed to join Al Nassr, which will see him play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo next season.
Chelsea have also been dealing with some Premier League rivals as part of their summer exodus. Forward Kai Havertz has gone to Arsenal for £65m, while Mateo Kovacic has signed for Manchester City in a £25m deal. Plus, Chelsea are in talks with Manchester United over the departure of Mason Mount, while fellow midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is on the verge of joining Milan.
Another player who could head to Milan is USA winger Christian Pulisic. On June 24, he made a big hint he could leave Chelsea by saying he ‘needs to figure out what’s going to be best for my future’. He added that he wants to ‘feel joy at club level again’ following a tough season with Chelsea.
The forward has been linked with Newcastle United and French club Lyon. But instead it appears he is most likely to end up at Milan.
Earlier this week, Italian source Tuttomercatoweb revealed Milan are ‘closing in’ on Pulisic’s signing. But fellow Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness) have now cast some doubt over the transfer.
Chelsea player wanted in Italy
They reveal that the Rossoneri only want to spend €15m (£12.9m) on the former Borussia Dortmund ace. Chelsea, though, have stated he will only leave for €20m (£17.2m). A transfer at that second price would see Chelsea take a £40.8m hit on Pulisic, having originally spent £58m on him in 2019.
Milan are not in the strongest financial position right now and this means they are wary about spending £17.2m on Pulisic. Surprisingly though, Puma could convince them do to so.
Puma currently sponsor both Pulisic and the Serie A giants. And with Milan aiming to make a splash in the American market, the report suggests Puma may tell the Serie A giants to up their bid and bring Pulisic in.
The 24-year-old is one of the USA’s biggest football stars, so he could help bring a whole new audience to Milan.
Pulisic will be hoping Milan come back with an improved offer for him so he can leave Chelsea and get his career back on track.
Meanwhile, there is new optimism Man Utd will sign Mason Mount from Chelsea after fresh talks were scheduled.