BlueCo must axe Chelsea "passanger" who earns more than Palmer & Pedro
da apostebet： It has seen them receive plenty of criticism over the last few years, but Chelsea’s transfer strategy has seen them amass a squad full of unreal talents.
da 888： Moreover, the club have also been able to shift an impressive number of players deemed no longer good enough.
In fact, despite bringing in the likes of Liam Delap, Jorrel Hato, Alejandro Garnacho and more this summer, the Conference League champions posted a profit of around £3m.
However, there are still a number of players the club have been unable to shift, including one who somehow earns more than Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro.
Chelsea's best sales
While we as fans are understandably far more focused on the incomings during a transfer window, it’s just as crucial for clubs to nail their outgoings, and few in the Premier League can sell as well as Chelsea.
Wage Burners
Football FanCast’s Wage Burners series explores the salaries of the modern-day game.
For example, Noni Madueke joined the club for around £29m in January 2023, and after 92 appearances in which he scored 20 goals and provided nine assists, was sold for around £52m.
Ian Maatsen joined the club as a youngster in 2018 and, after a number of loan spells, was sold to Aston Villa for a whopping £37.5m last summer.
It’s not just outfield players that the Blues have been able to make good money on, either.
Đorđe Petrović was signed from MLS side New England Revolution for £14m, including add-ons, two years ago, and following one season in London and one out on loan, was sold to Bournemouth for about £25m this year.
The West Londoners have even got a knack for getting good money for those players that could be viewed as flops, like Christopher Nkunku, who joined AC Milan for around £36m last month.
In short, Chelsea have proven themselves to be one of the best-selling sides in the Premier League, although there is one player they have not been able to shift, a player who somehow earns more than Palmer and Pedro.
The Chelsea flop on more than Palmer and Pedro
While there are a few players Chelsea are yet to get rid of, there is one who is impossible to ignore: Raheem Sterling.
The former England international joined the club from Manchester City in the summer of 2022 for around £50m and put pen to paper on a five-year deal.
At the time, it looked like a good enough deal, as during his time in Manchester, he’d racked up a tally of 131 goals and 86 assists in 339 games.
However, while he’s looked good at points during his time in the capital, a return of 19 goals and 15 assists in 81 games was deemed not good enough for Maresca when he joined, and so the winger was banished to the ‘bomb squad.’
London rivals Arsenal offered the former Liverpool gem a lifeline when they took him on loan last season, but instead of bouncing back, he looked even worse.
In fact, the 30-year-old was such a “passenger” in North London, per journalist Charles Watts, that content creator Connor Humm described the whole move as an “absolute waste of time and money.”
The Kingston-born ace returned to West London with just six goal involvements in 28 games for the Gunners, and while there was some interest in him during the summer, he is now back in the bomb squad.
Sterling’s Arsenal record
Competition
EPL
UCL
FA Cup
EFL Cup
Appearances
12
6
1
4
Minutes
307′
297′
80′
270′
Goals
0
0
0
1
Assists
1
2
0
1
Goal Involvements per Match
0.08
0.33
0.00
0.50
Minutes per Goal Involvement
307′
148.5′
N/A
135′
All Stats via Transfermarkt
This wouldn’t be such an issue if he were earning a modest wage, but that five-year deal he signed in 2022 was for a staggering £325k-per-week.
In other words, should the four-time Premier League champion see out his entire contract at Stamford Bridge, he will have earned an eye-watering £84.5m.
For comparison’s sake, Pedro, who already has five competitive goals and two assists to his name since joining the club, is reportedly on around £135k-per-week.
Likewise, Palmer, the club’s talisman, has a sensational tally of 43 goals and 29 assists in just 98 games for the club, and is making £130k-per-week.
Ultimately, while it’s not easy to move on a player earning as much as Sterling, it might be in Chelsea’s best interest to let him leave for free in January just to remove his gargantuan wages from the books.
