In the 2024/25 summer transfer window, Chelsea spent €261m (£216.2m) on transfers, making €198m (£164m) in sales, in order to fund much of this business. A large majority of those sales included academy graduates, being sold in order to comply with PSR.
Ian Maatsen, Conor Gallagher, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson were all sold after either coming through the Chelsea academy or being initially signed for the academy, meaning all of these sales constitute as “pure profit” for the club – and owner Todd Boehly – on their books.
|
Chelsea 2024/25 summer sales |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Fee (£) |
|
Ian Maatsen |
£36.8m |
|
Conor Gallagher |
£34.7m |
|
Lewis Hall |
£27.3m |
|
Romelu Lukaku |
£24.8m |
|
Omari Hutchinson |
£19.4m |
|
Angelo |
£19m |
|
Diego Moreira |
£1.6m |
|
Hakim Ziyech |
£0 |
|
Thiago Silva |
£0 |
|
Tino Anjorin |
£0 |
|
Malang Sarr |
£0 |
|
Stats taken from Transfermarkt |
|
Whilst most of the sales were players on the fringes of the squad, Gallagher – who captained Chelsea for the majority of last season in the absence of Reece James and Ben Chilwell – made 50 appearances for the Blues, scoring seven goals, providing nine assists and totalling 4,036 minutes played.
The sale of the Englishman may now look to be something of a mistake, considering his soaring market value, although the Blues may well have struck gold with another high-profile sale in the summer.
Chelsea’s key academy sales
Gallagher came through the Chelsea academy, going on to make 95 senior appearances, scoring ten goals, providing ten assists and totalling 6,061 minutes played.
The English midfielder was viewed as “priceless” by Mauricio Pochettino, being a clear favourite of his throughout his season in charge.
The 25-year-old midfielder was sold to Atlético Madrid in the summer for a fee of around £35.8m, making 30 appearances so far this season for the Spanish giants, scoring two goals, providing three assists and totalling 1,633 minutes played.
Whilst the Gallagher sale wasn’t the best value, selling him for what is now seen as under his current value, there was another sale in the 2024 summer window, which perhaps was more on the side of a good sale price, with Boehly and co extracting a fee higher than his current valuation.
Chelsea struck gold with 2024 exit
Moving on academy talent like Gallagher has been a common theme in recent years at Stamford Bridge, with the Blues having also cashed in on the likes of Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham and Marc Guehi, among others.
Another among that list is the aforementioned Maatsen, who Chelsea sold to Aston Villa ahead of the current campaign, with the 22-year-old signing a six-year deal for the Villans, costing them around £37.5m.
The left-back has made 30 appearances this season, providing one assist, contributing to five clean sheets and totalling 1,029 minutes played.
Since being sold, Maatsen’s value has decreased according to Transfermarkt, now being valued at €32m (£26.5m).
This would suggest Chelsea made the right decision at the time, selling Maatsen off the back of a strong loan spell with Dortmund, despite Pochettino being “so happy” with the Dutch full-back in the 2023/24 pre-season:
“I am so happy with him,’ said Pochettino, after Maatsen starred in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in Atlanta. “He is a player that can play in different positions. He has quality, he understands the game, and he is such a clever player.”
That being said, Maatsen, being 22 years old, still has plenty of time to fulfil his potential, and in years to come the Blues could look back on this deal differently.
But as of right now, Chelsea will be happy with the timing of this sale, and the value extracted from it.
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