Ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Newcastle, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino sat down with the media in his pre match press conference.
As well as injury updates on Nkunku and Lavia, Pochettino was asked by one reporter on why one player departed the club this summer.
The latest transfer window saw the likes of Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and many more. But it was one academy graduate that caught a reporters eye.
As deadline day approached, players such as Ian Maatsen, Conor Gallagher and Lewis Hall were strongly linked with moves to other Premier League clubs. All three were attractive sales to the owners as on the books they would go down as ‘pure profit’ which helps the accounts to comply with FFP. But it was the latter that was the topic in today’s press conference.
As Lewis Hall is currently on loan to Newcastle with an expected obligation to buy he thankfully can’t come back to haunt Pochettino but that didn’t stop the questions from being asked.
With Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella at left back as well as the option as Ian Maatsen it seems like Hall’s departure was based on a numbers decision rather than a financial one despite reportedly agreeing a new contract just weeks before. Pochettino said: “It was a player with the condition to play here, but at the same time too many players in that position ahead of him.”
Pochettino went onto say it was “Unlucky that he cannot play” at Chelsea but did wish him for the future. Chelsea’s loss can only be Newcastle’s gain.