Chelsea players Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater and Ross Barkley have been told that they must find new clubs according to The Athletic as they were officially stripped of their squad numbers.
All three players have not been able to establish themselves as first team Chelsea players since their arrivals after costing £90 million cumulatively in transfer fees.
 |
| Credit: PA |
Thomas Tuchel has officially informed the players that they are not in his plans at the end of pre-season as he does not feel that they have the quality to make an impact on the squad.
All three players have had various spells on loan in recent seasons with differing degrees of success however they all remain on contracts with high wages which may make it extremely difficult for the club to sell as clubs have been deeply affected financially by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the Blues are close to selling Tammy Abraham for a fee of around €45 million who has been out of favour under Tuchel.
 |
| Credit: PA |
As Chelsea look to sell more players to lighten their squad, they have finally confirmed the £97.5 million signing of Romelu Lukau from Inter Milan which has caused some fans and pundits to suggest that they are favourites for the Premier League title.
When asked about his arrival, the Chelsea manager said: “With the addition of Romelu we have the number one striker in and we want to have him on the pitch. That is very clear when you do this kind of transfer.
 |
“But I think he will take pressure from the shoulders of Kai [Havertz], Timo and Christian because Romelu is the kind of person who will link with continuity and he will lift the pressure off the young guys’ shoulders.
“I’m very happy with Christian, Timo and Kai because they give a lot of effort and put a lot of intensity into the team and I think with Romelu we have the opportunity to play with two strikers like they did with Inter with him or we can continue with three strikers.” Featured Image Credit: PA |