Raheem Sterling’s move to Arsenal came after he and droves of other first-teamers were forced into the now-infamous
‘bomb squad’, but that option may not be available to Chelsea for much longer.
Sterling was the most high-profile Chelsea player to be ostracised in the hopes that it would force them to move
on and bring in much needed revenue and wage savings.
But 13 players in total were made to train with the reserves by Enzo Maresca over a period in the summer, including
Romelu Lukaku, Trevor Chalobah, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Armando Broja.
All of those players have now moved away on loan or, in Lukaku’s case, permanently.
And while it attracted huge scrutiny from the media and supporters alike, the bomb squad treatment did prove and
effective way of giving Chelsea more PSR wriggle room – at least in the short term
Deivid Washington, Harvey Vale, Alex Matos and – most notably – £200,000-a-week left-back Ben Chilwell are the only
players from the 13-man blacklist to still be on the payroll for 2024-25.
The bombastic recruitment strategy under Todd Boehly and Eghbali, who are at loggerheads in the boardroom, means
the club feel this kind of draconian treatment is a necessity to relieve financial strain.
Under the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules, Chelsea are allowed to lose no more than £105m over a
rolling three-year period, excluding costs such as infrastructure and youth development.
The margins are very tight for Chelsea after spending more than £1.5bn on new signings under the Clearlake-led regime,
so saving the bulk of Sterling’s £325,000-a-week salary for the season is significant.
But the method that the club used to persuade the 29-year-old attacker to accept a move to Arsenal has now been challenged at the very highest level.
