Footie Central | Football Blog Blogging the football world
Three more Chelsea players could be set to follow the growing trend of signing for Saudi clubs next season.
That follows reports that a delegation from the Middle Esst kingdom have been in London to discuss moves for Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech, and Édouard Mendy.
N’Golo Kanté is already close to sealing his move to Al-Ittihad, whilst Pierre-Emerick Aubeyang may be another player whose next move is to the Middle East.
No longer just a move for players at the tail end of their careers, the Saudi Pro League is now starting to attract younger talent.
And for Chelsea, negotiating quick deals for the trio will help them solve their FFP dilemma.
They have a deadline of June 30th to get a number of players off their books in order to avoid penalties for potential breaches of the rule, and with all three concerned surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge, they can get more money for them than they could hope to get from other European clubs.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.