Chelsea's homegrown players facing axe if club miss out on top four?

Chelsea could reportedly be forced to sell some of their homegrown talents if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

Since taking over the club, co-owner Todd Boehly has spent over £600m across the summer and January transfer windows.

Chelsea recently broke the British transfer record by completing a £106m transfer for Enzo Fernandez, who made his debut against Fulham on Friday.

The Blues have exploited UEFA's current Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules by spreading the total fees for a number of their transfer dealings across lengthy contracts.

However, due to their lavish spending, Chelsea may also have to find other avenues to avoid a breach of FFP regulations.

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According to The Telegraph, a number of Chelsea's academy products are concerned that they could be offloaded if the club fail to qualify for the Champions League.

Selling homegrown talent counts as zero cost under UEFA's regulations, and football finance expert Kieran Maguire has claimed that moving on academy products could be Chelsea's best path to continuing their current spending.

Maguire told The Telegraph: "[Tammy] Abraham, [Fikayo] Tomori are pure profit on sales. "Conor Gallagher, [Ruben] Loftus-Cheek and [Callum] Hudson-Odoi could be potentially the same.

"Crucially, you can take all the profit in the year of sale but spread purchases over the life of the contract via amortisation."

Gallagher and Loftus-Cheek were linked with moves away in January, and they could be candidates to be sold in future transfer windows.

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Hudson-Odoi is currently on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, and it remains to be seen whether he has a future at Stamford Bridge.

Following a goalless draw with West London rivals Fulham on Friday, Chelsea have their work cut out to finish in the top four.

The Blues, who sit in ninth place, are currently nine points adrift of the top four, but that gap could increase to 12 points following the weekend's round of fixtures.

Alternatively, Graham Potter's side could gain automatic qualification for the Champions League by winning the competition this term.

Chelsea will play Borussia Dortmund in the last 16, with the first leg set to take place on February 15.