Carvalho, on his way out?
Chelsea are planning a summer clear-out to raise funds
for new signings. Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Juliano Belletti and
Paulo Ferreira will all be allowed to leave as the club seek to
reduce their wage bill and create space in the squad for new
players and emerging talent from the youth team.
Ron Gourlay, the chief executive, said yesterday that in an
ideal world future signings would be funded by player sales, and
although that seems a remote prospect, the decision to trim the
squad is a sign that the club are at least making some efforts to
operate as a self-sustaining business.
Of the quartet who have been told they can leave Carvalho is the
only player with any significant resale value and attracted strong
interest from Inter Milan last summer before opting to stay at
Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea now accept that their determination to keep hold of
Carvalho was mistaken, as his performances have dropped during a
season ruined by injuries. Although there are no new offers José
Mourinho may make another move for one of his trusted lieutenants,
particularly if he leaves Inter to become the coach of Real Madrid,
who have also bid for Carvalho in the past.
Chelsea value the defender at £10 million, but have little hope
of gaining any fees for the other players they want to offload and
will be happy simply to reduce their wage bill. Belletti is out of
contract and can leave on a free transfer, and Deco has one year of
his contract remaining, but will be allowed to leave for nothing if
he wishes to return to Brazil. Ferreira has three years left on his
contract, but with José Bosingwa and Branislav Ivanovic also at the
club Chelsea will even consider paying him off to secure his
departure.
Chelsea have also made it clear that Ashley Cole is not for sale
after interest from Real. The England left back said yesterday that
Chelsea’s Premier League title triumph had vindicated his decision
to leave Arsenal four years ago, for which he was widely
vilified.
“It has been a long time and this is my first title at Chelsea
and now people will realise why I came here,” he said. “I came here
to win the big ones, the Premier League or the Champions League.
Hopefully we can get the Double and make history for this club. I
am happy and hopefully there is more to come.”
