Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital have reportedly taken measures to reduce Chelsea's wage bill since becoming the club's new owners.
Almost a year ago to the day, a takeover of the Premier League giants was completed, ending the reign of Roman Abramovich in the process.
Boehly and co wasted no time in adopting a change of strategy, most notably signing players to longer contract in order to spread amortization to meet FFP criteria.
Nevertheless, it has seemingly remained the case where lucrative wages have been handed out, with it widely reported at the time that Raheem Sterling became one of the club's highest earners when he arrived from Manchester City.
Since then, though, it has become apparent that some players face a Stamford Bridge exit unless they are prepared to meet the terms of the Chelsea hierarchy.
© Reuters
That is most notable in the case of Mason Mount, who has not been allowed to sign a deal which is on parity with teammates in the same bracket nor for a shorter length of time than the owners prefer.
With Manchester United said to be lurking with the intention of bidding in excess of £50m, a sale looks like, as it does with numerous other members of the squad.
According to The Times, such an approach from the Chelsea owners has led to the wage bill being slashed, something which can only help the club when they have failed to qualify for Europe.
The report claims that Chelsea's average bill now stands at somewhere between £70,000 and £75,000 per player, more in line with what they were expecting upon their arrival.
© Reuters
Romelu Lukaku is allegedly Chelsea's biggest earner at £315,000 per week and it appears logical that attention will be spent to resolve the Belgian's future in the summer.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is also expected to be handed a free transfer to help further reduce costs, although there is potential for the outgoings to be bumped straight back up given the targets that Chelsea have in mind.
Likely new head coach Mauricio Pochettino allegedly wants to sign a new goalkeeper, central midfielder and centre-forward to help Chelsea return to the top seven in the Premier League as a bare minimum.
Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana and Sporting Lisbon midfielder Manuel Ugarte are reportedly targets of Chelsea, while Christopher Nkunku is expected to arrive from RB Leipzig.
Darren Plant
