LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 05: Pedro of Chelsea celebrates scoring his sides fifth goal with his Chelsea team mates during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge on November 5, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
My oh my! Where to start with this Chelsea squad?
In his first season at the helm, manager Antonio Conte has been charged with putting his stamp on proceedings at the Bridge.
But the Italian has inherited a squad that is bloated, unbalanced and the product of several managerial changes in a short space of time.
Conte is the tenth ‘permanent’ manager since the end of Jose Mourinho’s first spell in September 2007, accounting for oddities like Guus Hiddink’s extended vacations.
As each manager has come and gone, they have brought with them scores of ‘next big things’, favorites and other assorted bench warmers.
It seems as if the hierarchy in West London have become so paranoid about overlooking another Romelu Lukaku or Kevin De Bruyne that they have taken to hoarding players!
As a result the Blues have almost FORTY! players out on loan. We could make this a really short post and recommended Conte jettisons all of them.
In the interests of being more diligent, there are a handful of players that could offset some of the cash Conte intends to spend to bring in his type of player.
FORTY! players </a>out on loan. We could make this a really short post and recommended Conte jettisons all of them.</p>
<p>In the interests of being more diligent, there are a handful of players that could offset some of the cash Conte intends to spend to bring in his type of player.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Five Players Chelsea Must Sell </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_425610" class="wp-caption alignright">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-425610" src=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2592,w_3888/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F11%2F109715047-chelsea-v-watford-fa-youth-cup-6th-round.jpg" alt="" width="3888" height="2592" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/109715047-chelsea-v-watford-fa-youth-cup-6th-round.jpg 3888w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/109715047-chelsea-v-watford-fa-youth-cup-6th-round-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3888px) 100vw, 3888px"><p class="wp-caption-text">LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 02: A general view of the stadium ahead of the FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.on sixth round match between Chelsea and Watford at Stamford Bridge on March 2, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)</p>
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<p></p><h3 style="">FIVE PLAYERS CHELSEA MUST SELL</h3><br>
With the January transfer window only weeks away, we have selected five players Chelsea simply must offload.
<p>These are players who, for one reason or another, are surplus to requirements at the Bridge and who’s time in Blue has come to an end.</p>
<p>There are players with distinguished service to the club, cases of what might have been and at least one inexplicable signing with the benefit of hindsight.</p>
<p>The last selection is a cautionary tale for powerhouse clubs and aspiring starlets everywhere.</p>
<p>Chelsea fans will likely be pleased to know there are no promising Belgians on the list.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Branislav Ivanovic </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-425532 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2800,w_4656/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F11%2F602987718-swansea-city-v-chelsea-premier-league.jpg" width="4656" height="2800" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/602987718-swansea-city-v-chelsea-premier-league.jpg 4656w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/602987718-swansea-city-v-chelsea-premier-league-768x462.jpg 768w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/602987718-swansea-city-v-chelsea-premier-league-268x162.jpg 268w" sizes="(max-width: 4656px) 100vw, 4656px"><p class="wp-caption-text">SWANSEA, WALES – SEPTEMBER 11: Chelsea player Branislav Ivanovic in action during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Chelsea at Liberty Stadium on September 11, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)</p>
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<p></p><h3 style="">5. Branislav Ivanovic</h3><br>
This will be a tough one to swallow for a lot of Chelsea fans. Currently the club’s longest-serving player, Ivanovic has been a reliably consistent performer through the best times in the club’s history.
<p>A two-time Premier League champion, with winner’s medals from both major UEFA competitions in his years at Stamford Bridge, there was a time when his name vied for first on the teamsheet alongside the likes of Petr Cech, John Terry and Frank Lampard.</p>
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<p>But the harsh reality is that he is coming to the end of his contract, and at 32, his form isn’t likely to improve. It is not unreasonable to suggest we have long since seen the best of Ivanovic in a Chelsea shirt.</p>
<p>Plus, given Conte’s preference for a 3-5-2 formation, Ivanovic has had to make way for Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Cesar Azpillicueta.</p>
<p>West Ham United are thought to be interested, and much like Sir Alex Ferguson did with the likes of Phil Neville, Wes Brown and John O’ Shea, allowing the defender some golden years at an established top flight outfit would be a fitting mark of respect.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> John Obi Mikel </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-425535 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2247,w_3000/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F11%2F576600646-sk-rapid-vienna-v-chelsea-friendly-match.jpg" width="3000" height="2247" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/576600646-sk-rapid-vienna-v-chelsea-friendly-match.jpg 3000w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/576600646-sk-rapid-vienna-v-chelsea-friendly-match-768x575.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3000px) 100vw, 3000px"><p class="wp-caption-text">VIENNA, AUSTRIA – JULY 16: John Obi Mikel of Chelsea in action during a friendly match between SK Rapid Vienna and Chelsea on July 16, 2016 in Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)</p>
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<p></p><h3 style="">4. John Obi Mikel</h3><br>
A cursory look at the stats speaks to a storied career at Chelsea for <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"http://www.chelseafc.com/teams/first-team/john-mikel-obi.html">John Obi Mikel</a>. Yet there has to be something of a sense of unfulfilled potential about his time at Stamford Bridge.
<p>Mikel has never quite been ‘the man’. At almost every juncture in his Chelsea career there has been someone ahead of him for that holding midfield role.</p>
<p>Whether it be Michael Essien, Ramires or latterly Nemanja Matic, Mikel has never quite nailed on that starting spot to the extent you felt it was his to lose.</p>
<div class="embed embed-video"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/0nFTuEqjvOY?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>Conte’s summer signing of N’Golo Kante essentially signaled the death knell for Mikel’s Chelsea career but there is a lot of upside here.</p>
<p>At 29, he probably has at least three top flight seasons left in him, and certainly more given the fitness standards of today’s professionals.</p>
<p>There are a slew of clubs in the Premier League and across Europe who would kill to have a player of Mikel’s capabilities at the heart of their side.</p>
<p>And certainly there would be time for Mikel to grab a lucrative MLS or Chinese Super League contract to cap off his career later on.</p>
<p>That said, Chelsea need to cash in now before they lose Mikel for good in the summer.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Juan Cuadrado </a>
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</div> </div> </div> <h3 style="">3. Juan Cuadrado</h3><br>
This one is essentially a bit of a cheat since Cuadrado is basically out of the door.
<p>That said, he is subject of something of a convoluted <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3766623/Juan-Cuadrado-set-complete-loan-Juventus-despite-wishes-Chelsea-boss-Antonio-Conte.html">loan deal</a> that involves yearly fees and a tack on fee if current club Juventus decide to keep him.</p>
<p>Cuadrado is symptomatic of the muddled thinking that has gone into Chelsea’s transfer spending in recent years.</p>
<p>Signed by Jose Mourinho from Fiorentina during the winter window of the 2014-15 season, the early signs were good for the Colombian international but he slowly faded out of favor.</p>
<p>Mourinho shipped him off to Juve on loan at the start of the 2015-16 season and the rest is history.</p>
<p>The simple fact is the Colombian seems to favor life in Italy ahead of England’s Premier League.</p>
<p>Chelsea are stuck now is a stasis with a player they probably should never have signed. It’s very unlikely anyone will be able to intervene in the current Juventus deal in this January window, and equally unlikely Cuadrado will want to return after success in Italy.</p>
<p>The strange case of Juan Cuadrado is a head scratcher and cautionary tale for spendthrift clubs.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Loic Remy </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—></p><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_419527" class="wp-caption alignright">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-419527 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2595,w_3821/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F09%2F516566542-chelsea-v-west-ham-united-premier-league.jpg" width="3821" height="2595" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/09/516566542-chelsea-v-west-ham-united-premier-league.jpg 3821w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/09/516566542-chelsea-v-west-ham-united-premier-league-768x522.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3821px) 100vw, 3821px"><p class="wp-caption-text">LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 19 : Loic Remy of Chelsea during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and West Ham United at Stamford Bridge on March 19, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)</p>
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<p></p><h3 style="">2. Loic Remy</h3><br>
The signing of Loic Remy had the feeling of a smaller scale echo of Chelsea’s capture of Fernando Torres.
<p>They bought him because they could, and they thought he would make an immediate impact.</p>
<p>Remy arrived in England courtesy of a contentious transfer from Marseille to Queen’s Park Rangers with Newcastle United believing they had submitted a successful bid in the January 2013 transfer window.</p>
<p>Bizarrely QPR then loaned Remy to the Magpies at the start of the next season before Chelsea snapped him up before deadline day in 2014.</p>
<p>To the layman, it seemed a peculiar signing.</p>
<p>Maybe the intention was to have him compete with Diego Costa for the starting striker slot? Maybe the thought was he would learn from the returning Didier Drogba and develop into a similar player?</p>
<p>Whatever the reason for Mourinho acquiring a third striker in the same mould that off-season, Remy’s transfer didn’t pan out.</p>
<p>Currently injured in a loan spell at Crystal Palace, Remy is another of those players, like Christian Atsu, the Blues seemingly don’t know what to do with.</p>
<p>Palace have an option to buy, but Chelsea would surely prefer to unload the player in January if there was any possibility of that happening.</p>
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</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_425548" class="wp-caption alignright">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-425548 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_3261,w_4900/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F11%2F611505032-soccer-barclays-u21-premier-league-chelsea-u21-v-liverpool-u21-the-electrical-services-stadium.jpg" width="4900" height="3261" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/611505032-soccer-barclays-u21-premier-league-chelsea-u21-v-liverpool-u21-the-electrical-services-stadium.jpg 4900w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/11/611505032-soccer-barclays-u21-premier-league-chelsea-u21-v-liverpool-u21-the-electrical-services-stadium-768x511.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 4900px) 100vw, 4900px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Chelsea’s Islam Feruz during a Barclays U21 Premier League match between Chelsea U21 and Liverpool U21 at The Electrical Services Stadium on 7th April 2014 in Aldershot, England. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)</p>
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<p></p><h3 style="">1. Islam Feruz</h3><br>
We could have picked Kenedy, Wallace, Andreas Christensen or about a dozen others for this last player.
<p>But instead let’s take the cautionary tale of <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2016/11/11/five-players-chelsea-must-sell-january/"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3441591/Where-did-wrong-Islam-Feruz-Former-Scottish-wonderkid-vanishes-latest-club.html">Islam Feruz</a>.</p>
<p>In the current global football market, young talent is sought after like gold dust. Global scouting and data analytics plumb great depths to unearth that next Messi or Ronaldo, or even Jamie Vardy.</p>
<p>Chelsea, perhaps more than any other, hedge their bets, buying in bulk and seeing what sticks.</p>
<p>They may be the most visible but they are certainly not the only side that operates this way.</p>
<p>That leads to cases line Islam Feruz. Progressing quite promisingly through the youth ranks of Celtic and Scotland, the Somalian refugee seemed on the cusp of a fledgling professional career.</p>
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<p>In stepped Chelsea with their loan-a-lot plan and Feruz’s career has stalled strikingly after failing to settle in Russia, Greece, England and even back in Scotland at Hibernian.</p>
<p>Feruz isn’t the first to be drawn by the bright lights of a Premier League giant and won’t be the last.</p>
<p>But the Blues would do him, and several other serial loanees, a favor by letting them go for good so they can learn their trade out of the spotlight.</p>
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