There are several senior players at Chelsea whom Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley need to try and get rid of this summer.
It is thought that there is up to £225m worth of talent that Chelsea do not want, giving the club’s co-sporting directors a lot of work to do.
Experienced names like Raheem Sterling, Joao Felix and Ben Chilwell will all be expected to depart after falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge.
However, the Blues also look set to offload one of their academy graduates during this transfer window.
Alfie Gilchrist set to leave Chelsea permanently
Alfie Gilchrist had a productive season out on loan at Sheffield United, making 30 appearances in the Championship.
It does not look like the young defender has done enough to convince Chelsea of his quality, though.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has claimed on X that Gilchrist will depart west London permanently this summer amid interest from the Championship.
Gilchrist can play at both centre-back and right-back, but Enzo Maresca has plenty of options in both of those positions.
| Positions Alfie Gilchrist has played | Total games |
| Centre-back | 78 |
| Right-back | 40 |
| Left-back | 1 |
Malo Gusto is being linked to Bayern Munich, but even if the Frenchman does go on to join the German giants, Josh Acheampong will be expected to provide cover for Reece James.
The 19-year-old is already part of Chelsea’s first team and is currently with their Club World Cup squad.
What John Terry has said about Alfie Gilchrist in the past
Gilchrist is thought highly of by one Chelsea legend, John Terry, so the former Blues captain will be disappointed to see him go.
Terry has actually compared Gilchrist to himself, saying: “Literally from the first training session in which I saw him, he reminded me of myself. He was keen to learn, asking me questions about defending and constantly picking my brains over what I would do in different situations.”
The Chelsea academy product does not seem to have a future in west London, though, and a move to another Championship side now looks possible.
At least it will be good for the 21-year-old’s development. After playing so much football at Bramall Lane, Gilchrist would not have enjoyed sitting on Chelsea’s bench next season, something he no longer has to worry about.
