the Chelsea News
·3 June 2025
Chelsea expect “a lot of interest” in forgotten midfielder they could sell this summer

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Yahoo sportsthe Chelsea News
·3 June 2025
The Athletic’s Deal Sheet for this week is out, and as always the most interesting parts for us are the little fragments of new news that we haven’t heard elsewhere.
In this case, perhaps the most notable is to do with Lesley Ugochukwu – another one of those players you have have forgotten is still on the books at Stamford Bridge.
Lesley Ugochukwu winning a midfield battle.
In the section on the players the Blues may look to sell, the piece claims that the midfielder is “well liked” and that his season long loan to Southampton was “viewed positively” by the club despite a rocky start. However the number of midfielders on the books, boosted by the addition of Dario Essugo, whose transfer was confirmed yesterday, and the imminent return from loan of Andrey Santos, means there’s little space for the Frenchman in the first team squad.
“Chelsea believe he will generate a lot of interest this summer,” and it’s easy to see why. A dynamic, physical central midfielder with a bit of Premier League experience should have all sorts of bottom half teams interested.
The question for Chelsea is what approach to take to getting the best price for Ugochukwu. In general they’d usually rather sell a player and pick up the cash right away, but in the case of a player with so much contract left to run and so much upside, they may also consider a loan.
That allows him to raise his potential sale value ahead of a future move, as well as keeping the door open for him to stay at Chelsea should he really blossom on loan somewhere. This one could really go in any direction, and we’re curious to see what happens in the end.