Chelsea have had a decent season so far finishing 3rd in the Premier League ahead of the Champions League finalist and their London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. A top three finish sounds like an achievement when you think about how the prospect of a top-four finish looked gloomy with only 8 games to go.
Maurizio Sarri, who was appointed at Stamford Bridge last summer, took the team to two finals – League Cup and Europa League – with the latter still to play. With Champions League football in the bag and the hope of European silverware, the Italian manager has done a commendable job in his first season competing against the likes of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
However, the upcoming transfer window will be a bigger issue for the Blues with the possibility of a transfer ban still looming large. Let’s take a look at the three players who will most likely exit Stamford Bridge if the transfer ban is frozen once they decide to appeal to the CAS.
Eden Hazard
It’s old news that Eden Hazard has been eyeing a move to the Spanish giants Real Madrid. The Belgian was very close to a move last summer but Los Blancos failed to wrap up a deal with Sarri keen to keep the club’s star player in his first season.
The Belgian has talked about playing at the Bernabeu being one of his childhood dreams and seems to have mutual respect with the man in charge Zinedine Zidane, with the pair hailing each other on a number of occasions.
Chelsea want north of £100m for their star forward and Real who are in a rebuilding phase currently are holding out devising their plans for the summer transfer window. The possibility of the 28-year-old ending up at Bernabeu seems inevitable at this point with the ‘when’ taking prevalence over ‘whether’.
Gonzalo Higuain
The Italian manager brought Higuain to Chelsea in the winter transfer window in a bid to address the Blues’ attacking woes in the final third. Things have not gone according to plan with the Argentine only scoring 7 times in 20 appearances since January.
The Blues have the option to extend Higuain’s loan by 1 year for £16m or to outright buy the 32-year-old for £32m, the chances of both the scenarios happening stay slim especially in case the transfer ban is frozen which will prompt the Blues to go for a new striker before the commencement of next season.
Mateo Kovacic
Kovacic moved from Real Madrid to London on a one-year loan in search of more playing time. The 25-year-old has, however, failed to make any significant contribution with 2 assists and 0 goals in 50 appearances for the club across all competitions.
The Croatian has been overshadowed by Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ross Barkley who have already scored important goals for the Blues this season while they have looked more comfortable in Sarri’s set-up. The sudden rise of RLC and Barkley means only one thing, Kovacic won’t be signed on a permanent basis and will eventually make his way back to Santiago Bernabeu especially if Chelsea decide to contest their ban and have it frozen for the summer.
Stats Courtesy: Transfermarkt
Chelsea have to sign Mateo kovacic and aloud Higuain to leave.