Chelsea faced the prospect of a fire sale of players heading into the last few days of the transfer window with as many as 20 players excluded from first team training as they were deemed surplus ot requirements.
In the end, the club can congratulate themselves for finding homes for many of the so-called bomb squad before the window closed.
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Trevoh Chalobah and Armando Broja all went on last minute loan deals, as did Raheem Sterling, although his move to Arsenal still comes at a cost to Chelsea.
They are received no loan fee, and, although the player has agreed to a pay cut, Chelsea are still picking up a substantial portion of his wages for the season.
Meanwhile, Romelu Lukaka’s long association with the club has ended after he was finally sold to Napoli.
One player they failed to move on, though, was left-back Ben Chilwell.
He had been linked with a loan move to Manchester United, but his wages of ₤200,000 a week proved a major hurdle in getting that deal over the line.
Unless homes can be found for some of these outcasts – the transfer window remains open in markets like Turkey and Greece – then Chelsea face the prospect of paying a bunch of rejects good money just to train with the club until January at least when the window opens again.
