Chelsea players ‘regret’ signing 8-year contracts and ‘don’t see the grand project sold to them’

The problems continue to rumble on

Ever since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital's takeover in May 2022, the club has been in overdrive, spending over £1bn across four transfer windows.

Many of the players signed were tied down to long-term contracts and given the ideology that the two-time European champions would be building a squad that would be ready to pounce once Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp both leave Manchester City and Liverpool.

However according to The Athletic, many of those additions are now regretting the decision to sign long-term contracts - as long as eight years in some cases - and don't understand the direction the club is heading in.

Chelsea's difficulty in trimming such a bloated squad is their own fault

Barring Thiago Silva (2024), Conor Gallagher (2025) and a few bit-part players, every player at Stamford Bridge has at least three years left on their contract.

Over half of the squad have contracts with more than five years left. Several of those have failed to meet expectations despite coming in for astronomical fees.

This is also Chelsea's downfall as they now realistically need to sell some of these players who have failed to cut the cloth but will almost certainly want to recoup as much of the money they paid for these signings to wipe some of the egg off of their faces.

But realistically, most sides wouldn't touch these players unless it was for a cut-price fee and would many teams be willing to match the wages they're being paid in west London. How many of those players would also want to trade their healthy pay packets and the London lifestyle for someone else too?

Pochettino unlikely to be sacked

Sunday's defeat was another low point in Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea career. Large sections of the crowd booed his team off and were calling for him to be sacked.

Reports on Monday revealed that Chelsea were exploring the possibility of relieving the former Spurs man of his duties, but concerns about breaching Financial Fair Play rules means they are reluctant given the fee they would have to pay Pochettino.

There's also claims that the plan was always to review Pochettino's tenure at the end of the season regardless of what happens.

Chelsea are in FA Cup action on Wednesday night when they face Aston Villa at Villa Park in a fourth round replay.

Related links:

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