Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has been warned Chelsea would lose its soul if academy graduates Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher are sold.

The Blues have forked out over £600million over the last two transfer windows, while breaking the British transfer record on deadline day to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica. Chelsea will look to sell players in the summer to balance the books.

“I want him [Potter] to stay,” Merson wrote for Sportskeeda. “I’m not sure if he’s the one bringing these players in. I’m watching these players and I wonder whether these signings are better than the players they’ve got.

“They are absolutely not. So why are they buying these players? They might very well offload players like Mason Mount and Conor Gallager and profit off their sales because they are academy graduates. And then suddenly, they’ll figure out that the club has lost its soul.”