Earlier this month, the west London club announced a pre-tax loss of £90.1million in the year to 30 June 2023 which raised concerns that they would fall foul of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
They now need to raise funds before the end of June this year to avoid the threat of a points penalty – which has been dished out to the likes of Everton and Nottingham Forest already.
The easiest way to comply with PSR is to sell homegrown, academy players, with those deals counting as 100 per cent pure profit.
Chelsea were widely expected to offload the likes of Conor Gallagher and Ian Maatsen this summer to help balance the books, but now one of the team’s biggest stars is also on the chopping block.
According to The Times, Chelsea’s hierarchy are preparing to cash in on James too and feel they can generate in excess of £60m for the right-back to allay their financial issues.
Although James is one of the club’s most valuable players and was handed the armband last summer, there is a feeling that he is somewhat dispensable.
Injuries have limited the 24-year-old to just five Premier League starts this season, while he only made 14 in the 2022/23 campaign.
He underwent hamstring surgery in December in an attempt to resolve the long-running problem and returned to first-team training this month, though is still working up his fitness.
In his absence, Malo Gusto has proven to be an excellent understudy, registering five assists in his 16 Premier League starts, while he is four years younger than James.
Speaking about his injury woes in December, James said: ‘The footballing world knew I got injured, but the procedure I would go down this time took slightly longer to figure out the best solution.
‘I had surgery today to try fix my recurring hamstring issue, the recovery has started, both physically and mentally. Since this injury, I’ve had a good amount of support but significantly more hate and negativity. Believe me I don’t want to be injured, I’m happiest when I’m playing football.’
Midfielder Gallagher, meanwhile, is also likely to be offloaded despite a strong season and Chelsea would hope to get around £40m for him even though he is about to enter the final year of his contract.
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