Chelsea are reportedly aiming to sell three key players to provide funds to help with securing the £150million signing of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland this summer.
Haaland, 20, has been told by Dortmund that he is not for sale in this window.
However, fresh reports indicate that the Blues are going to test the resolve of the German club by making an official opening offer next week.
In order to afford the mammoth fee required for the 20-year-old, ex-footballer and now Norwegian journalist Jan Aage Fjortoft has provided an update on what needs to happen outgoings-wise for this deal to materialise.
Fjortoft tweeted: “Chelsea will partly fund new players through selling players.
“Three most likely to go: Ziyech, Abraham and Hudson-Odoi.”
All three players have been linked away with various moves already in this summer transfer window.
Hakim Ziyech has been linked with a move to join Serie A giants AC MIlan, whilst Callum Hudson-Odoi reportedly still has strong interest from Germany with the likes of Bayern Munich and Dortmund said to be keen on a potential deal for the 20-year-old.
Tammy Abraham, meanwhile, appears to be attracting the most interest out of the three from various Premier League clubs. The likes of Leicester City, West Ham United and Aston Villa have all been linked with a deal for the striker.
All three players played a combined 108 matches in all competitions last season for Thomas Tuchel’s Champions League-winning side.
None of the mentioned started in the 1-0 final win over Manchester City in Porto, though.
According to Transfermarkt, based on current market value, Chelsea could receive a total of £97.2million for all three players if they were sold on permanent deals, with Hudson-Odoi valued at £28.8m and both Abraham and Ziyech said to be £34.2m.
But Covid-19 has hit the footballing world, meaning one or two deals may need to be loans to start off with for clubs to financially afford these three Blues assets.
Planning to sell players to afford Haaland demonstrates Marina Granovskaia’s intentions of going all out for the Norwegian striker this summer.
A prospect which will delight all Chelsea fans, but especially former player Emmanuel Petit, who previously urged the west London club to go all out for the Norway International.
Petit told Paddy Power early this month: “I’ll make it simple. Giroud is on his way out of Chelsea, Tammy Abraham is probably leaving on loan.
The summer window is officially open and now the Blues can look to build on European glory and bolster the squad to push for Premier League supremacy.
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“Timo Werner is still struggling to score goals consistently and Kai Havertz is not a striker. Chelsea need a new striker and someone who scores lots of goals.
“Haaland is the answer. He’s strong, powerful and young with a bright future in front of him.
“Haaland’s value is already very high, and connections with Tuchel increase his chance of joining Chelsea.
“Offensively, he could become the finisher that Chelsea really need. I can imagine his relationship with Mount, Havertz, Pulisic and Ziyech making him score lots of goals at Stamford Bridge.
“Chelsea needs a top striker, it’s as simple as that.”