No squad number, contract up in 2022 – £20m man on £94k-per-week could leave Chelsea [Opinion] – originally posted on Sportslens.com
Baba Rahman is one of many players with an uncertain future at Chelsea, having been on the periphery for years while being behind three left-backs in the pecking order under Thomas Tuchel.
The 27-year-old doesn’t have a squad number for the new season and has entered the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge, so Chelsea are desperate to cash in now rather than risk losing him for nothing.
Baba joined Chelsea for £20m from FC Augsburg in 2015 and has gone on to make only 23 appearances in all competitions, the last of which came in 2015/16.
The Ghanaian international has spent the last six years out on loan – FC Schalke 04 (August 2016 – June 2017) (January 2018 – January 2019), Stade Reims (January 2019 – June 2019), RCD Mallorca (September 2019 – June 2020), PAOK Salonika (January 2021 – June 2021) – so the writing has been on the wall for some time.
Baba finds himself behind Marcos Alonso, Ben Chilwell and Emerson at left-back, so there’s little chance he’ll play for Chelsea again. He’s yet to find a suitor willing to sign him permanently, however, so the Blues aren’t making back any of the £20m spent all those years ago.
Getting the 27-year-old’s £94k-per-week/£4.9m-a-year salary off the wage bill will be progress, but Chelsea want to retrieve a transfer fee too. This summer may be the only chance of doing so, as clubs can agree a pre-contract deal with Baba in January when his deal has six months remaining.
Stats from Transfermarkt.
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Author:Crippy Cooke