CHELSEA could reportedly bank a tasty £67million by flogging five fringe players.
The Express claims Frank Lampard remains eager to sign West Ham and England star Declan Rice, despite spending £226m on SEVEN new faces over the summer.
Chelsea could raise £67m in January by selling the likes of Antonio RudigerCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But with Rice reportedly valued at a whopping £80m by his club, Chelsea need to raise funds while also reducing their number of senior players.
It’s said that Lampard is ready to allow January exits for centre-back Antonio Rudiger, left-back Emerson Palmieri, midfielder Danny Drinkwater and striker Olivier Giroud, as well as Napoli loanee Tiemoue Bakayoko.
According to Transfermarkt, Germany international Rudiger could fetch £27m for the Blues this winter.
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That’s just £2m less than what they paid Roma when they signed Rudiger in July 2017.
Meanwhile, Italy regular Emerson is valued at £16m and would represent just a loss of £1.5m after his January 2018 move from Roma.
However, Chelsea will have to be prepared to take a huge hit on Drinkwater.
He joined from Leicester in September 2017 for £35m.
But the troubled flop is valued at only £3.5m.
Likewise, veteran forward Giroud cost £18m when he joined from Arsenal in January 2018.
But the World Cup winner now has a valuation of just £4.5m.
Finally, reports claim Bakayoko is close to making his Napoli loan permanent for £16m.
Tiemoue Bakayoko is close to joining Napoli permanently for £16mCredit: Getty Images – Getty
That’s a big hit on the £40m Chelsea gave to Monaco when they signed him in July 2017.
And according to Transfermarkt, Napoli are getting a bargain as Bakayoko’s current market price is £23m.
Added together, the five exits would bring in £67m for Chelsea, still leaving them £13m short of West Ham’s valuation for Rice.
But doubts over the futures of other players including Marcos Alonso and Kepa Arrizabalaga, Lampard could yet find ways to raise further funds.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
