Three Chelsea stars on brink of exit to help fund Werner, Chilwell moves

Three Chelsea stars look poised to leave the club to fund moves for striker Timo Werner and left-back Ben Chilwell this summer.

The Blues are under pressure to get a deal over the line for RB Leipzig and Germany star Werner before his £50million release clause expires on Monday, with the coronavirus pandemic said to be holding up the poropsed transfer.

The forward is currently unable to board a flight to England to complete a medical at Chelsea’s Cobham training base, undergo the various procedures and put pen-to-paper on a contract.

As a result, the Blues are in a race against time to sign Werner this weekend before he is no longer available for a what appears to be a bargain in the current transfer market.

Should Chelsea fail to secure the transfer then, in theory, Leipzig could ramp up the price of their star man and begin a bidding war involving other potential suitors.

Werner was recently valued at £80.5m by the CIES Football Observatory, suggesting that Frank Lampard’s men are getting a great deal on the 24-year-old.

But the Blues are also in hot pursuit of Leicester and England defender Chilwell, who will not come cheap, and they will have to offload some of Lampard’s first-team squad to bag their double deal.

And a report in the Daily Mirror claims that Pedro, Willian and Michy Batshuayi are the three highest profile players who will be moved on.

Both Pedro and Willian are out of contract this month, meaning the Blues won’t get a transfer fee for either player, but will get them off their wage bill.

Batshuayi has one year remaining on his Chelsea contract, and could command a transfer fee of around £15million – with West Ham, Crystal Palace and Newcastle all said to be keen on the forward.

 

 

Meanwhile, Barcelona are reportedly ready to pay for a portion of Philippe Coutinho’s wages for him to move back to England or stay at Bayern Munich.

Coutinho, who became the Premier League’s record transfer export when he moved from Liverpool to Barca for £142m in January 2018, will be allowed to leave the Nou Camp when the season finishes – having spent the campaign in the Bundesliga on loan with Bayern.

The report in the Daily Telegraph states that Barca accept the Brazilian’s wages, worth more than £200,000-a-week, ‘will be difficult for a club to pay as they assess the financial impact of coronavirus on the football’, so they are ‘considering a compromise to cover his salary’.

Coutinho, 28, will be allowed out again on loan following his year in Germany, although the Catalan giants would also be willing to accept a swap deal or transfer, for the right price.

Both Chelsea and Tottenham have been strongly tipped to move for the former Reds star, particularly since his price tag is believed to have dropped below £50m, while Newastle have also been credited with an interest – if their Saudi takeover goes through. Read more…