Chelsea have spent more than £1 billion on transfers over the past two seasons to build their current squad. Despite the team's underwhelming performances, they have assembled a large number of talented young players in their squad to set the stage for Chelsea's future. However, the current contract issues with Chelsea players have left many fans unhappy. Since Boehly took over Chelsea, many players have signed contracts of up to eight years or more to cover the salary and transfer costs. Caicedo's contract expires in 2031;Enzo joined last season and his contract also extends until 2031;Nkunku joins before the start of the season and his contract runs until 2029Lavia, on the other hand, joins in this summer window and has a contract until 2030.
Such a contract may alleviate some of the risks for Chelsea and ensure that players stay in the team for the long term, not poached by other clubs, but it can also lead to slackness in players, which is not good for the team's results. Chelsea have a clear need to continue to strengthen their squad given their poor performances this season, with manager Mauricio Pochettino also confirming his intention to make a signing in January. With Chelsea currently 10th in the league, if they fail to strengthen their squad in January, they may still be unable to achieve anything this season, or even qualify for European competition, which is clearly not what Boehly and Pochettino would like. Chelsea's reinforcement naturally needs to be a group of players first, otherwise they will be on the attention of the FA.
Chelsea's young talent Conor Gallagher has been targeted, with the club looking to pay a transfer fee of £40 million or more, with the Blues Academy player looking to do so. Conor Gallagher has played a key role in Chelsea's squad this season, making him Chelsea's best performer with four assists in 18 league starts. There are other reasons for letting Gallagher go, other than that he is one of the few players in the Chelsea squad who is liquidated and has potential value. Conor Gallagher is set to expire at the end of the season, and the two sides are currently at odds over a contract extension. Conor Gallagher is reluctant to accept an eight-year long-term contract and is at odds with the club over salary. Therefore, Chelsea intend to strengthen him.
Despite Pochettino's high hopes for Conor Gallagher, he was unable to retain the Chelsea midfielder.