One Saudi Arabian club could have helped Chelsea get rid of one of their unwanted players this summer.
There are several footballers at Chelsea right now who are not part of Enzo Maresca‘s first-team plans.
The above includes the likes of Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Axel Disasi. Finding buyers for their outcasts has not been easy, though.
It is thought that Chelsea have set Chilwell’s asking price at £15m, showing how difficult selling him is proving to be.
Neom end interest in Axel Disasi
Disasi’s wages are not as high as Chilwell and Sterling’s, so Chelsea should find it much easier to offload him.
One club from Saudi Arabia were about to help the Club World Cup winners in their mission to sell the central defender.
L’Equipe reported on Sunday that Saudi Pro League side Neom were interested in Disasi and had started negotiations with BlueCo to sign him.
However, journalist Ben Jacobs has since claimed on X that they have “ended” their interest in the player.
He has other options in this transfer window, though. It has been claimed that Villarreal have already made an approach for Disasi.
After spending the second half of last season out on loan at Aston Villa, the 27-year-old’s Chelsea career is all but over. Now it is just a matter of which club he is going to join. Chelsea’s asking price for Disasi is believed to be £30m.
Which players have left Chelsea for Saudi Arabia in the past?
Other clubs from Saudi Arabia have managed to help Chelsea move on some of their unwanted assets in recent transfer windows.
For example, the Blues sold Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy to Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli respectively in 2023.
A year later, Chelsea also allowed Angelo Gabriel to join Al-Nassr. All three clubs did the Conference League holders a favour, and Neom could have done the same thing.
You suspect that Todd Boehly would love to ship off Disasi, Chilwell, Sterling and more to Saudi Arabia, but convincing these Premier League stars to move there could be tricky.