Chelsea free transfer was “a favour” claims well connected journalist | OneFootball

Chelsea’s summer was a big success on the selling side in the end – they shifted 8 of the 10 players they really wanted to get rid of, including one of their highest earners.

Ben Chilwell was sold to our sister club Strasbourg on deadline day, finally getting him off the books. On the London is Blue podcast, Chelsea writer Matt Law was asked how this deal (which was effectively a free transfer) worked.

Chelsea do “a favour” to Chilwell so both parties can move on

Ben Chilwell applauds the fans. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

“I think they’ve done well by Chilwell. Everyone wanted him to be treated well. What I’m told is that they agreed to pay up part of his contract, I don’t know how much. A settlement was made over the remainder of his contract that then allowed a deal to be done with Strasbourg.”

“I don’t think Strasbourg pay more than £30,000 a week in So the only way for that deal to get done was for Chelsea to make a settlement with Chilwell. And that was obviously aimed at getting him a club and getting him playing, especially in a World Cup year. It’s a bit of a favour to Chilly.”

After being a great player for us, winning trophies and then being very understanding in his last 12 months of bomb-squadding, they probably owed him one. But we’re happy it’s been resolved amicably.

You can see Law speaking in the clip embedded here:

Chilwell’s England hopes

As Law noted, a big part of the move happening now is the left back’s desire to get a full season under his belt in an attempt to get back into the England squad. It seems a long shot given he’s barely played for a year, but it’s not impossible given Thomas Tuchel is in charge of the Three Lions and got the best out of the former Leicester man.

“It’s not beyond the realms of possibilities that Chilwell gets himself in the conversation,” as Law put it.