We have seen a mirrored last couple of seasons develop at Chelsea where we are looking at identical contract situations.
Last season we spent the whole season wondering whether Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen were going to sign new contracts or not. And these were two players playing regularly in our starting line-up, and the situation was bound to affect them on the pitch, I don’t care what anyone says.
This season, we have the same situation but in midfield, with Jorginho and N’Golo Kante having contracts running out in June 2023. Again, this cannot be a good situation for anyone, and really, it should have been sorted out one way or the other sooner.
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This is why Chelsea should make clear decisions on our 2024 contract group right now, or at least as soon as possible. If we want to extend contracts for any of the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mateo Kovacic, Christian Pulisic, and Mason Mount, then we should be in talks now and getting those deals sealed. But if we are not going to extend them, then we need to decide now and sell these players either in January, or the summer.
Otherwise, we face more situations like we have seen the last two seasons, and too much uncertainty and unsettled players. We also get good value for these players still if we sell them in January or the summer, rather than waiting.
I’m not here to debate who we should extend and who we shouldn’t extend right now, but I am saying we need to make decisions on them all now and decide whether we want to open contract extension talks or not, it will help them all collectively moving forward.
