Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, is ready to give his green light for the sale of at least five players in the squad when the January window opens.
Since arriving at Stamford Bridge in the summer, Maresca has gone about trimming the number of players available to him.
According to BBC Sport, that list is topped by Ben Chilwell, who the Blues failed to sell in the summer transfer window.
Chilwell joined Chelsea in a £50million move from Leicester City in 2020, but now finds himself frozen out of the squad. He has made just one appearance this season, in the 5-0 Carabao Cup win over Barrow.
The England defender still has two and a half years left on his £200,000-a-week contract – a fact that will make a mid-season exit extremely difficult.
Maresca has preferred Marc Cucurella, Malo Gusto and Renato Veiga ahead of him at left-back.
Chelsea will also struggle to offload Carney Chukwuemeka, because they have put a £40m price tag on the midfielder.
Chukwuemeka joined from Aston Villa for £20m in 2022 and has made just 32 appearances including five this season, all in the Carabao Cup or Conference League.
Cesare Casadei is attracting interest from Feyenoord and Monza. The Italian wants more first-team football and will only be allowed to leave on loan.
Harvey Vale is entering the final six months of his contract and looks set to leave Chelsea in January. The 21-year-old has nine goals and nine assists in 15 games for the U-21 this season.
Alex Matos – a 20-year-old central midfielder – is another player who could leave in January. He spent the second half of last season on loan with Huddersfield and is not in Maresca’s plans.
