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Published January 19, 2025 10:34am Updated January 19, 2025 10:34am
Chelsea have upped their valuation of Trevoh Chalobah with the club prepared to sell him despite only just returning from his loan at Crystal Palace.
Earlier this week, Chalobah was recalled to Stamford Bridge, bringing an early end to his impressive loan spell at Selhurst Park.
Despite exiling him from the first-team last summer, Enzo Maresca says he is delighted to have the centre-back available following injury blows to Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile.
The head coach has further claimed that the decision to let Chalobah go in the first place was only because of ‘financial problems’, with fans hoping the Englishman now has a long career ahead of him in west London.
That may not be the case however, with reports suggesting that the 25-year-old is nothing more than a short-term fix and that the Blues will sell him on come the summer.
To that end, The Sun say that Chelsea have placed a £40million price tag on Chalobah – nearly double what they were asking for last summer.
It is not clear if the Blues are actively pushing to sell him as they were previously, but if an offer in that region were to be made he would likely leave.
Palace signed the defender on loan on deadline day as no club was willing to match Chelsea’s initial valuation, but thanks to his brilliant performances the Eagles were very interested in buying him permanently.
However the south Londoners are not willing to pay this new asking price which would easily smash their transfer record, currently held by Christian Benteke following his £27m move from Liverpool in 2017.
Furthermore, Chalobah’s salary, a reported £7m-a-year, would also make him Palace’s highest earner and is considered too expensive by the Premier League club.
The Eagles have not suffered at all since Chalobah’s unexpected departure, recording back-to-back 2-0 away wins at Leicester and West Ham.
Discussing the situation, Palace manager Oliver Glasner said: ‘I’m not sure disappointing is the right word. Trevoh had a great time with us.
‘When you make a loan deal it is usually win-win for everyone, but now Chelsea are the biggest winners because they get a player back who scored three goals and is in much better shape than when he arrived.
‘I want to say thanks to Trevoh for his professionalism and for what he invested. He is a very good player and an even better human. We had a great time together and I wish him all the best at Chelsea.’
Chalobah could make his first appearance for Chelsea this season on Monday night when they host Wolves.
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