Chelsea willing to sell England star and £52m flop as part of Blues fire sale with Enzo Maresca keen to refresh squad ahead of Champions League return
Chelsea are understood to be open to offers for Noni Madueke.
The England winger joined from PSV Eindhoven in 2023 and scored 11 goals in all competitions last season but the club are willing to sacrifice him alongside Christopher Nkunku and João Félix, who is a target for Benfica, as they look to freshen up their attacking options this summer.
They remain in contact with Eintracht Frankfurt for Hugo Ekitike but his price tag of £84m is prohibitive at this stage.
Madueke was a regular started for manager Enzo Maresca last season — making 32 Premier League appearances — but he did not always stay in his manager's good books.
In August, after Madueke scored in the Conference League win over Servette, Maresca told the 23-year-old England international that he must train better.
Then, in December, Madueke's levels again dropped in training and so Maresca retaliated by dropping him to the bench for their game against Aston Villa. He had started their last 11 Premier League matches but was a substitute for that victory, once more told by his boss that coasting through sessions at Cobham will not be tolerated.
Later that month, the forward was dropped for the matchday completely for their Boxing Day defeat by Fulham, a game in which Maresca named two goalkeepers on his bench as if to prove a point.
Nkunku stayed at Stamford Bridge after a deal for the French forward to join Bayern Munich in January fell through.
Nkunku arrived from RB Leipzig in 2023 for £52.7m in 2023 and scored 14 goals last season but only three in the league. He has been tried in a variety of attacking roles but has failed to impress.
Felix, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Milan, first joined Chelsea in 2023 on loan before later joining Barcelona only to move back to the Blues in a permanent £45m deal.
But by February, he had fallen out of favour with Maresca and joined AC Milan on loan managing just three goals in 21 games.
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Belfast Telegraph
13 minutes ago
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The Independent
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The Independent
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Would a £15bn investment in public transport ‘level up' the red-wall areas?
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