Chelseas XXL squad is pure madness

Football trips to Chelsea FC lead this summer to one of the largest squads in the Premier League – new Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca has 43 players at his disposal – and there isn't much time left to significantly reduce the squad and bring some structure to the club, with the transfer deadline looming.

Imagine it's "Midnight in Chelsea," and at the bar sits John Francis Bongiovi Jr., known as Jon Bon Jovi (global career not possible under his real name), creator of the brilliant song from 1997, and 43 men walk in.

That could very well happen in southwest London these days, even without Bon Jovi, although for a Chelsea victory celebration with the squad, you'd likely need to rent out a gym rather than a trendy club… A billion-dollar star ensemble Let's be honest. 43 players – that somehow fits the transfer madness that has taken hold under American owner Todd Boehly since 2022 in London. The website Transfermarkt.com estimates the value of the "Blues" squad at 1.09 billion euros.

This puts the Londoners – on paper – in third place in the English top league. Only the squads of local rivals Arsenal FC (1.15 billion euros) and champions Manchester City (1.30 billion euros) are currently more luxurious in the Premier League. 

We will likely only see Chelsea's billion-euro ensemble internationally in the UEFA Europa Conference League – after a 2-0 first-leg win against Servette Geneva in the playoffs and a disappointing 2023/2024 Premier League season.

"Nothing has improved since 2023"

If the two-time Champions League winner qualifies as expected, then they'll be shooting cannons at sparrows at Stamford Bridge. The gap between Chelsea's squad value and that of the second-most expensive team in the qualifiers, AC Fiorentina with 251 million euros, is more than 750 million euros. Galaxies apart! 

"The fact that the Blues are even starting in this third-tier European competition, in the Conference League qualification," commented England legend Keir Radnedge in Kicker magazine on August 22, 2024, "says a lot about how things have not improved since 2023. On the contrary, the proud 2021 Champions League winner is staggering." 

Chelsea FC : Hairy transfers

And how! Chelsea's management outdid themselves this summer with some hair-raising deals. Portuguese player Joao Felix from Atlético Madrid and English national player Conor Gallagher switched clubs just before the UECL first leg against Geneva. For the services of Joao Felix, whom they had borrowed from Madrid in January 2023 for 11 million euros and who did not really impress in London with 4 goals in 16 PL appearances, they now paid 52 million euros. The only more expensive signing in 2024 was Felix's Portuguese compatriot Pedro Neto from Wolverhampton Wanderers – for 60 million euros.

The list of players that Chelsea Football Club would like to remove from the payroll is long – Transfermarkt.com lists nine CFC professionals who are still expected to leave. There is no shortage of big names on Chelsea's cut list. English national player Raheem Sterling, who was left out of the EURO 2024 squad, reportedly earns 370,000 euros per week. He, like his fellow "Three Lions" colleague Ben Chilwell, has no future at Chelsea.

Winger Sterling was one of the first top transfers of the Boehly era when he moved from Manchester City to London in July 2022. Striker Armando Broja, trained in Chelsea's own academy and loaned out several times (including to Fulham FC), is also on his way out. VfB Stuttgart, Milan, and AS Monaco are mentioned as potential suitors.

Six goalkeepers

Kepa, one of six goalkeepers in the XXL squad, is also considered a candidate for departure. Returning from a loan spell at Real Madrid, the Spaniard was shown the door with the signing of Danish goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen from Villarreal FC. The message is clear: "Can leave, can leave now!" The same goes for "Big Rom," Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian striker has never truly found happiness at Stamford Bridge and is almost certainly a candidate for departure – possibly even in exchange for Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen from SSC Napoli. Pretty crazy, all of it.

"So far, a squad of 33 to 43 professionals, fluctuating greatly at the moment, reflects neither a concept nor orderly finances," criticizes Radnedge, "the club, which has already been hit with a transfer ban, is under scrutiny both nationally, continentally, and globally. To balance the books, it's already clear that Chelsea will have to sell two hotels…"

Contracted until 2027

Or perhaps a player or two? Given the more than generous contract lengths – Lukaku, for example, is contracted until 2026, Chilwell and Sterling even until 2027 – that's not easy. And when the owner disappears into the box at 0-2 against the league's top dog Manchester City on the first matchday, it certainly doesn't inspire confidence in the coach and squad planners. 

But: It's not yet "Midnight in Chelsea"! What the London men's choir is capable of was on display on the 2nd Premier League matchday against Wolverhampton Wanderers – 6-2 (2-2). Especially the "Blues'" most valuable player, Cole Palmer, valued at 80 million euros, showed his great talent with four goal involvements. That's something, at least.