Chelsea are believed to be closing in on an agreement for their fourth exit of the summer, with BlueCo attempting to trim the club's bloated books.

Enzo Maresca's side have already waved goodbye to Kepa Arrizabalaga, who signed for Arsenal in an official £5 million deal earlier this week, with the 30-year-old joining defender Basir Humphreys and fellow keeper Marcus Bettinelli out of the Stamford Bridge door.

Humphreys sealed a £12 million permanent move to Burnley in May after spending the 2024/2025 campaign on loan at Turf Moor, helping Scott Parker's side achieve promotion back to the Premier League, while Bettinelli replaced Scott Carson at Man City.

These departures have yielded around £19 million in total transfer fees, but given the club have spent around £140 million already this summer, they'll need to orchestrate more exits in an effort to stay in line with PSR and UEFA's FFP regulations.

Liam Delap's £30 million switch from relegated Ipswich, Joao Pedro's now-confirmed £55 million move from Brighton and Gittens' pending £55 million arrival from Borussia Dortmund could yet be followed by more incomings, so player sales will become an absolute necessity before deadline day on September 1.

Lesley Ugochukwu, João Félix, Renato Veiga, Ben Chilwell, David Datro Fofana, Armando Broja and Axel Disasi are all on the chopping block this summer, according to The Athletic, while Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke are also linked with high-profile exits lately.

Arsenal are seriously looking at Madueke as a back-up option/competition for star winger Bukayo Saka, and given the plethora of transfers conducted between both sides over the last few years, there is every possibility the England international could be next out of the door.

"Noni Madueke is one of the players Arsenal are looking at," said David Ornstein to The Athletic.

"Arsenal have long been searching for back-up/competition for Saka. They first looked at Mbeumo, that didn’t work out, so they had to look at alternatives — Madueke is among them.

"A lot appeals to Arsenal about that profile because he can play on the other side too, he’ll be known to many of the Arsenal players, he’s London based and Chelsea are always open to conversations about trading.”

Chelsea close to finalising Djordje Petrovic transfer to Sunderland

Chelsea could also trim their backlog of shot-stoppers down even more, with both Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic up for sale (Simon Phillips).

The latter played a key role on loan at sister club Strasbourg last season, and Petrovic has received plenty of interest this summer. Many suitors have reportedly phoned his representatives to gauge the possibility of a transfer (Simon Phillips), which is no surprise considering his "world-class" talent, as described by Strasbourg boss Liam Rosenior.

Now, as per Sky Sports Switzerland reporter Sacha Tavolieri on X, it appears one of them are now closing in on a deal for the Serbia international.

Indeed, it is believed Sunderland are now close to finalising Petrovic's signing from Chelsea, which could be for around £22 million if all goes to plan.

If done, this is a very solid move for the 25-year-old, as he'll likely accumulate far more game time between the sticks for Regis Le Bris' men, and could have the opportunity to play a vital role in helping Sunderland maintain their newly-found top-flight status.