Maresca must swiftly sell Chelsea star who earns more than Palmer

With Enzo Maresca now confirmed as Chelsea’s new manager, supporters can expect the noise surrounding summer transfers to rise a level.

Todd Boehly and Co have already started to make their moves, closing on the signing of Fulham centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo on a free transfer and continuing to scour the market for a new centre-forward, but freeing Stamford Bridge of some of the flotsam remains a notable area of importance.

Despite the cascade of signings that have littered this stuttering new era in west London, the lid has largely been kept on in regard to player wages, but Chelsea will need to assess one or two of the already-existing squad members and whether they should remain at the club with such sizeable salaries.

Especially given the success of Cole Palmer, who has taken the Premier League by storm while only earning £75k per week.

Cole Palmer’s season in numbers

Chelsea signed Palmer from Manchester City in a £42.5m package after the 22-year-old demanded to leave, disquieted by the prospect of sitting on the fringe of English football’s pre-eminent force.

But Palmer always knew that his quality placed him in Europe’s upper echelon, and having plundered 25 goals and 15 assists across 45 appearances for Chelsea this season, that steadfast belief has been confirmed.

Pundit Jamie Carragher even remarked that the England international has been “one of the best players in the Premier League this season”, so brilliant has he been in what most assumed would be a settling-in season for a talented young prospect.

As per FBref, Palmer ranks among the top 5% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 8% for assists and shot-creating actions and the top 6% for progressive passes per 90.

Sure, the 6 foot 2 star will be pushing for a bumper new deal after such resounding success, but Chelsea have triumphed in tying him down to a moderate earning initially, providing greater room to negotiate and keep things reasonable.

However, with players like Ben Chilwell eclipsing the prodigy’s pay packet, Maresca and the Stamford Bridge bosses might be wise to make some big decisions this summer.

Why Chelsea should sell Ben Chilwell

Chilwell signed for Chelsea from Leicester City for a £50m fee in 2020, with the left-back since completing 106 appearances, scoring nine goals, supplying 12 assists and winning the Champions League.

But the 27-year-old has suffered ruinous luck on the injury front over the past few seasons, starting only 30 Premier League matches over the past three campaigns, and while he has been “unlucky” in that regard, as per journalist Paul Brown, he’s surely running out of time to salvage his Blues career, with Marc Cucurella the first choice at left-back.

Sure, he’s contracted for another three years but at this point of his career, the England international will surely want to prioritise regular match action. Moreover, given that tuned-in industry sources such as transfer specialist Dean Jones are speculating that Chilwell could be one of the first players out of the door this summer following his omission from Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 provisional England squad, it’s not looking too rosy for the ace.

To think that only Raheem Sterling and Reece James earn larger salaries than Chilwell in Mareca’s first-team squad is staggering. Romelu Lukaku is the club’s joint-highest-paid player, however, Paul Winstanley and Chelsea’s transfer team are fighting to cash in on the Belgian this summer, ready to welcome lowball offers of just £35m.

What’s more topical, however, is the fact that Chilwell is earning £125k per week more than Palmer, or, to put it another way, nearly 3x more than his countryman.

Chilwell must surely follow the centre-forward out the door, with his prospects of success under Maresca looking slender and his £200k-per-week salary likely putting him right at the top of possible sales this summer.