Three reasons why Chelsea are not interested in signing Barcelona misfit winger

As Barcelona pulled the contract renewal offer for Ousmane Dembele off the table, there seemed to be a lot of clubs on alert, especially those in the Premier League. Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, and Chelsea seemed to be in the running, but any transfer in the winter did not come to fruition.

Of these four clubs, Chelsea were reportedly best-positioned to sign the Frenchman. However, Thomas Tuchel later spoke on the links, saying that they were “never in contact”.

Three reasons have been cited by The Athletic, as relayed by AS, as to why the Blues’, despite being a perfect fit for the World Cup winner.

Chelsea’s heavy salary bill

After a two-window transfer ban, Chelsea went all-out in the summer of 2020, signing Kai Havertz (€80 million), Timo Werner (€53 million), Hakim Ziyech (€40 million), Ben Chilwell (€55 million), and Edouard Mendy (€20 million).

They topped this with Romelu Lukaku, who was signed for €115 million from Inter Milan.

Most of these players refused lucrative offers from elsewhere to sign for Chelsea, who proffered better terms to them.

As such, the Blues now have the second-highest salary bill in the Premier League. Manchester United are speculated to be the first, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Pogba, and David de Gea on huge contracts.

Signing Dembele would mean adding another player with mountain-like wages to their bill, causing problems to the financial fair play structure.

Renewal priorities – Christensen, Azpilicueta, Rudiger

Chelsea have a unique problem on their plate in the form of several soon-to-be ending contracts; all of those players being defenders – Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, and Cesar Azpilicueta.

Thiago Silva was another player whose contract was expiring this summer but renewed for an additional year.

Azpilicueta, meanwhile, has reportedly turned down a one-year contract, hoping to double those terms. Christensen wants a ‘new challenge’, reportedly. Both players are on Barcelona’s radar.

As for Rudiger, he is apparently looking for a considerable raise given his rise in importance in the Chelsea defence.

Roman Abramovich and co. are looking to solve the issue of their renewal before moving to transfer targets.

Dressing room trouble

Dembele reportedly wants a huge salary raise to go along with a renewal at Barça and will likely take those same terms elsewhere. However, his demand of €40 million in annual wages is bound to raise some eyebrows.

For Chelsea, they feel it would alter the status of the dressing room and the morale.

The London outfit are going through a rough patch on the pitch, winning just seven games of their last 15. Tensions are running high, and they will need to make intelligent decisions regarding the rest of the season and the summer window.