Chelsea are by now renowned for their high turnover of players, and this January window looks set to be no different.
The Mirror have reported that the Blues are ready to part with up to nine of their current senior players to fund one headline incoming.
Unfortunately, for PSR-stricken Newcastle United, that one player is someone they spent a lot of time chasing in the summer.
Chelsea willing to let nine players leave to fund Marc Guehi
According to the same report, those nine players are up for sale at Stamford Bridge to fund the transfer of former Cobham prospect Marc Guehi, currently at Crystal Palace.
The centre-back was one of the Magpies’ primary targets in the summer, offering around £60million at one point, but failing to reach Palace’s £70million asking price.
Earlier in that same window, Newcastle had feared facing sanction under PSR rules and reportedly even considered selling headline names like Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon at one stage to meet obligations — providing a window into the sort of wiggle room being dealt with at St James’ Park.
Lloyd Kelly aside, who has made a limited impact on the first team so far, the north-east side did not sign a secondary target, meaning the same Guehi-sized gap exists in the squad.
Hearing that perennial purchasers Chelsea have as many as nine players to offload – one being Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, as reported by Fabrizio Romano, who only signed for the west London club in the summer – will alert the Magpies to the sort of financial room that would create at Chelsea, and it won’t be a positive alarm for Eddie Howe’s side.
It was reported in October by Football Insider that Guehi was still on Newcastle’s radar, but Chelsea’s fire sale to gather funds, and their locality both to where the defender grew up and where he’s currently based, is unlikely to help the Magpies’ pursuit.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, this latest Chelsea update will not be welcome news in Newcastle, but Guehi’s decision is not a foregone conclusion.
The England international knows only too well how difficult it is to gain and keep a place in Chelsea’s first team from his academy days, and the picture doesn’t look much different today; just ask Dewsbury-Hall.
The fee Newcastle were prepared to pay for him in the summer, despite their previous PSR concerns, should show the player how vital he would be to Howe – his importance to any new club should be high on his list of priorities, and it’s less than guaranteed at Stamford Bridge.
