Chelsea makes $30m saving as two transfers near but Liverpool and Michael Edwards won't worry

Romelu Lukaku and Malang Sarr are on the brink of exiting Chelsea, potentially freeing up as much as $30m (£23m/€27m) from the club's wage bill. The pair are reportedly close to securing moves to Napoli and Lens respectively , with the players have agreed moves in both cases.

Despite being contracted with Chelsea until 2026, Lukaku hasn't featured for the Blues since May 2022. It was speculated that new manager Enzo Maresca might give him another chance, but a return to Serie A seems more likely as he has reportedly agreed personal terms with Napoli.

According to Di Marzio , the Belgian striker has accepted a three-year deal in Naples worth $6.5m (£5m/€6m) per year, a significant drop from the $22m (£17m/€20m) annual salary he's been earning at Chelsea since his return in 2021. For Liverpool and especially Michael Edwards , who was coveted at Stamford Bridge before his return to FSG , this might be a sign that the defeated League Cup finalist is finally starting to turn the ship around when it comes to wanton excess and wage bill mismanagement.

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Similarly, former France under-21 international Sarr is also set to leave Chelsea, with reports suggesting his contract has been terminated a year early. This move will save Chelsea his $155k (£120k/€142k) per week wage, which totals more than $7.7m (£6m/€7.1m) annually.

Despite arriving at Stamford Bridge from Nice in 2020 amid high expectations, Sarr's time at Chelsea has been far from successful. Earning more than the likes of Thiago Silva, Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher last season, Sarr spent the entire campaign training with the club's under-21s.

However, L'Equipe has reported he is set to undergo a medical with Lens before signing on a free. These departures will mark some of the last major pieces of housekeeping pertaining to issues predating the Todd Bohely regime.

The jury is still out on a lot of the Boehly signings, so Liverpool will not be in a flap about a new Premier League rival just yet. Having failed to land Edwards, the American owner initially took on the role of sporting director for himself on an interim basis, presiding over some questionable business.

Since then, the recruitment department has had an overhaul, but there are still question marks over a number of big-money signings on very long contracts. We've hardly seen Romeo Lavia, who was linked with Liverpool, and even Moises Caicedo is yet to live up to the hugely expensive billing.

Still, these latest deals are a start for Chelsea. Sarr will leave West London having made just 21 appearances during his four years on the books at Chelsea. He managed 36 appearances while on loan at Porto (19) and Monaco (17) during that span, and he now returns to his native France with one of Ligue 1's rising forces.

Lukaku's departure is slightly more complicated in that Chelsea and Napoli are still yet to reach an agreement over his transfer fee. It's understood the Blues have a $49m (£38m/€45m) release clause in the 31-year-old's contract but would be willing to sell for $38m (£29.5m/€35m).

However, even that fee is believed to be seen as prohibitive by Napoli, who are under new management after Antonio Conte was appointed this summer. Lukaku previously worked under the Italian while on loan at Inter Milan, where they won the Serie A title together in 2021.

Victor Osimhen will be expected to leave the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona this summer — possibly for Chelsea — which would free up the funds for Napoli to buy Lukaku. In any case, it seems more a matter of when the player will leave Chelsea (again), and not if.

Maresca has already brought in several new faces this summer, but none with a standout reputation. However, the exits of Lukaku and Sarr could potentially speed up the process of bringing in high-profile signings.

Liverpool.com says: It is fun to laugh at Boehly, but he did inherit a bit of a mess — albeit a mess that had a habit of winning titles between the crises. So far, the American's reign has been all bust and no boom.

When he first arrived, there was talk of Boehly wanting to follow something akin to the FSG model, a notion reinforced when he pursued Edwards. Liverpool won't have recognized itself in the lavish spending at Stamford Bridge, but this trimming-down of the wage bill might be a step on the path to Chelsea becoming more like a sustainable club.

As yet, though, there is little evidence that the savings made will be put to good use. What the past few windows have shown is that Chelsea often wastes a lot more than it saves.