Chelsea fans are still very firmly on cloud nine after their beloved side defeated their near-London rivals West Ham United with ease on Friday night.
After experiencing a disappointing stalemate on the Premier League opening day versus Crystal Palace, such a vibrant display was desperately needed, with new personnel such as Joao Pedro instantly settling into his spot up top in Enzo Maresca’s XI by bagging the leveller on the night.
Estevao also shone as a new livewire down the wings at the London Stadium, but while everything is rosy in terms of incomings, it looks as if a whole host of sales will have to be signed off on very soon to appropriately balance the books.
Chelsea's long list of departees
It is to be expected after all, with Chelsea splashing the big bucks to land the likes of Pedro for £60m, before you even consider further deals that saw Jamie Gittens, Jorrel Hato, Liam Delap, and many more join Maresca’s growing ranks this summer.
The Blues have got rid of some notable personnel already, with hit-and-miss attacker Noni Madueke defecting over to North London to join Arsenal for a weighty £50m back in July.
Christopher Nkunku could soon rival that amount when he is very likely to depart the building before September’s cut-off point, having now been eyed up by Aston Villa.
It’s a sorry end for the Frenchman who was expected to light up the English top-flight with the Blues after a significant £52m move, only to now be chucked to one side after a turbulent 18-goal stint at Stamford Bridge.
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Moreover, despite starring in flashes with 24 Premier League strikes in West London, Nicolas Jackson also looks set to depart before the busy window is out, having further been named as a main target for Unai Emery’s men, on top of Newcastle United hunting him down as an effective way to get over the ongoing Alexander Isak scandal.
Chelsea fans far and wide will see the logic in trying to move on from these outcasts, but they would be bitterly disappointed if their side were to allow a rising star to leave, who could well become the Blues’ next Cole Palmer if given time to blossom.
Chelsea youngster could be Chelsea's next Palmer
Often, Chelsea has been negatively portrayed as a club that can be impatient when it comes to the next generation of talent rising through the ranks, with the likes of Declan Rice, Marc Guehi, and many other Premier League starters discarded by the cutthroat outfit when they were still youth players.
Thankfully, the Blues benefited from Manchester City prematurely getting rid of their own homegrown talents when purchasing Palmer back in 2023 for a modest £42.5m.
The rest is history now, with Palmer worth far more than that amount today, having notched up a ridiculous 43 goals and 29 assists from 98 senior outings.
That amount will no doubt rise and rise, but Chelsea won’t want to be plagued with regret if they were to sell Tyrique George shortly, with a hope surely on their end that the raw, yet exciting Englishman can go on to be Palmer 2.0 down the line.
Like Palmer, George possesses a magical ability to create something out of nothing. He’s quicker but he’s got a dazzling and mazy dribbling ability that can get him out of tight situations. Raw, of course, but there’s a lot to like about a player who is earning first team football at a higher level than Palmer did at the same age.
Sadly, he could be on the move. Fabrizio Romano has taken to X recently to confirm that AS Roma are keen on snapping up the 19-year-old attacking menace this summer, holding talks about the player at the back end of July.
Alongside interest from Serie A, Romano has also stated that there is interest from within the Premier League itself, on top of RB Leipzig further throwing their hat into the ring.
This would be a disastrous set of circumstances to lose George so early into his Blues career, having only just seen him bag his first-ever senior goal for the west London side last season, after being dubbed a “ridiculous” talent for the future previously by content creator Felix Johnston.
U18s
39
14 + 10
U21s
28
7 + 9
Senior Team
26
3 + 5
George has since backed up his debut effort with a further seven goal contributions in the first team picture, with Chelsea surely better placed to just gift their homegrown prodigy more minutes to get even more out of him, instead of prematurely putting him up for sale.
More consistent senior minutes could be presented to George out in Italy or Germany, however, as he now deliberates on his next step.
For Chelsea’s long-term sake, the hope will be that he remains put, so they can avoid another regret being piled onto their mountain of missteps.
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1 ByTom Cunningham
