Raheem Sterling and at least one other Chelsea player will avoid having to take a pay cut for missing out on the Champions League, according to reports.
The Blues have had a terrible first full season under the ownership of Todd Boehly with Frank Lampard’s side currently 11th in the Premier League and looking more likely to be relegated than qualify for Europe.
Lampard was hired as caretaker manager earlier this month after the Chelsea board made the decision to sack Graham Potter – who took over from Thomas Tuchel earlier this season – after just 12 wins in 31 matches in all competitions.
As well as appointing three managers this season, Boehly has overseen a transfer spend of around £600m over the last two transfer windows without solving their goalscoring issue.
After their 2-0 loss to Real Madrid on Tuesday night, Chelsea are now out of the Champions League and with it lost their final opportunity to qualify for next season’s competition.
Chelsea are 17 points behind fourth-placed Newcastle United – who occupy the final Champions League place in the Premier League – and a report on Thursday claimed that a number of players will now face a 30 per cent pay cut.
But The Sun claim that Sterling – who signed from Manchester City in the summer – is ‘one of the Chelsea players who will not lose a penny in Todd Boehly’s cost-cutting plans’.
The pay cuts ‘does not apply to everyone in the squad’ with Sterling joining ‘before American Boehly insisted on all new contracts containing a 30 per cent penalty clause’.
The Sun adds: ‘Sterling and at least one other new player — believed to be defender Kalidou Koulibaly — will avoid taking a heavy financial hit as a result of the Blues’ poor season.’
Chelsea centre-back Thiago Silva aimed criticism at the board earlier this week as he told them to “put a strategy in place” with too much “indecision” this season.
“I think the first step has been made, an incorrect step but it has been made,” Silva told reporters on Tuesday.
“We can’t be blaming managers if we don’t take responsibility. It’s a hard period for the club, with a lot of indecision – change of ownership, new players arriving.
“We had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn’t fit the size of the squad.
“A positive point is that there are amazing players within the squad but on the other hand there is always players that are going to be unhappy. There is always going…
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