Its been a season of numerous ups (securing the League Cup and Premier League double, the signings of Fabregas and Costa, the extraordinary performances by Terry and Hazard etc) and a few downs (the limp exits from the F.A. Cup and Champions League, the 5-3 thrashing by Tottenham, the “campaign” controversy, etc). Several players have stepped up their performances, like Hazard, Branislav Ivanovic, Willian, Matic etc, while some others have exceeded expectations, like Terry and Zouma.
I had earlier discussed some of the players who would have to step up their performances next season to be guaranteed a future at the club long term, like Oscar, Ramires and Cuadrado. Now we take into consideration the players who had not offered enough this season to even guarantee a place in the team for next season and are likely to be offloaded to either fund or create space for future transfers.
Next: John Obi Mikel
John Obi Mikel
Signed by Chelsea FC, then managed by Jose Mourinho, in 2006 for 16 million pounds after a long drawn-out ownership battle between Lyn Oslo, Manchester United and Chelsea FC, the 28-year old Nigerian has witnessed the club secure the EPL twice, F.A. Cup 4 times, League Cup twice and the Champions League and Europa League, making him one of the most decorated African footballers in club football, alongside players like Samuel Eto’o, Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba and Nwankwo Kanu. He has also won the African Nations Cup once, an accolade equalled by Yaya Toure and exceeded by Samuel Eto’o (4 times).
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He has been named African Young Player of the year in 2005 and 2006, Chelsea Young Player of the year in 2007 and 2008 and was also in the running for African Footballer of the year in 2013, finishing second to Yaya Toure. He, along with Messi, was rated as one of the most promising youngsters in the world after his stellar performances for Nigeria in the Under-20 World Cup in 2005, finishing as the second best player behind Lionel Messi. His fantastic passing ability, close control and ability to manoeuvre through tight spaces were lauded as some of his most impressive attributes.
So why would a such a highly decorated player be included in a list of players most likely to exit the club? Well, the most telling evidence is the fact that the League Cup final against Tottenham is the first cup final in Mikel’s 9-year Chelsea career that he has failed to start in! To put it into perspective, Kurt Zouma, a central defender by trade, was selected ahead of him to partner Matic in midfield.
During the just concluded season, he made just 26 appearances in all tournaments. 18 of those appearances came in the Premier League, with only 6 being starts, while he only made 2 appearances in the Champions League (1 start). For a player currently earning 90,000 pounds per week, that is a very poor return.
Jose Mourinho has been blamed for his regression as a player, as it has been claimed that his decision to convert Mikel into a midfield destroyer in the mould of Claude Makelele practically stifled his creativity. But when you consider the fact that every Chelsea manager since Mourinho’s exit and return have persisted with playing him in the same role, it clearly indicates that they probably saw the same qualities that made Mourinho initiate the change.
The fact that he has failed to take advantage of the creative role he plays for the Nigerian national team further makes it clear that he has clearly failed to improve in his creativity. In fact, the African Nations Cup win in 2013 was secured with Mikel playing a pivotal role for the team… in defensive midfield!
Mourinho’s claim that he intends to blood more youngsters in the future, starting with Ruben Loftus-Cheek, does not bode well for Mikel’s future at the club. Players like Van Ginkel and Nathan Ake are other youngsters knocking on the door of the Chelsea first team as well. Currently valued at 10 million pounds, Mourinho will most likely consider selling him off to take away his massive wages and fund the transfer of some of his current targets like Koke and Pogba.
Next: Petr Čech
![By John Dobbo [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_16,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/5b722b564fbb37c20b28aeb5d881d73560feee15429cbf8c2da167f83e2a072b.jpg "By John Dobbo [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
Petr Čech
Signed in February 2004 by Claudio Ranieri from Rennes, he joined the club in July 2004, initially as back-up to Carlo Cudicini. But an injury to the latter in pre-season forced Mourinho to promote him to first choice goalkeeper, a role he has held until the beginning this just concluded season, despite the several major injuries he has suffered during his time at the club.
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But unlike Mikel, his likely exit from the club is not due to any faults or drop in performances on his part… he has simply been ousted by a quite exceptional goalkeeper in Thibaut Courtois, who is just under 10 years younger than him.
Petr Cech could only manage 15 appearances this season in all competitions, with 6 coming in the Premier League. But he still managed to show his class, keeping 4 clean sheets in those games, including an outstanding instinctive save with his feet from a Lukaku shot from point-blank range in the 1-0 EPL victory over Everton.
While he did have a part to play in the 4-2 defeat to Bradford City in the F.A. Cup, he was instrumental to Chelsea’s Capital One Cup run, culminating in the team lifting the trophy for the first time since 2006. In all, he has made 485 appearances in his 10 years at the club, with 333 coming in the Premier League. His 166 EPL clean sheets is just 4 less than David James’ record, and has been achieved in 239 fewer games, which is an exceptional record. Despite his current predicament, he has remained Czech Republic’s first choice goalkeeper, making 112 appearances till date.
His list of accolades include 4 Premier League titles and F.A. Cups each, 3 League Cups, 1 UEFA Champions League and Europa League each, 3 EPL Golden Gloves, 7-time Czech Footballer of the Year, IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper (2005), 3-time UEFA Best Goalkeeper etc.
But most importantly, he has remained a model professional despite finding himself in the unexpected situation of being back-up goalkeeper, offering support to Courtois and not making much force about his current situation. It is for this reason that Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, is rumoured to have given Cech the option of picking his next club, even if it is likely to be an EPL rival.
Jose Mourinho had recently stated that if it were up to him, Cech would not be leaving the club. But with his contract being up at the end of next season and with little guarantees of first team football, recent reports indicate he has been allowed to seek options elsewhere, with Arsenal, Manchester United and PSG being mooted has clubs with most interest in him.
Recent reports from Bleacherreport indicate that Cech has a preference for Arsenal, a move which he probably feels will the give him the chance to break the current EPL clean sheet record as well as keeping his already settled family in London.
Next: Victor Moses
Victor Moses
Signed by Roberto Di Matteo in 2012 for 9 million pounds, he played a crucial role in Chelsea’s Europa League campaign under interim manager Rafael Benitez, scoring 4 goals en route to the Europa League title. He was also instrumental in Nigeria’s African Nations Cup victory in 2013. But he could only manage 23 EPL appearances, with 12 of them being starts in a season that saw Chelsea finish in third place.
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Since the return of Jose Mourinho in July 2013, he has failed to make a single appearance for the club, with an unsuccessful loan spell at Liverpool in 2013-2014 season, and a better one at Stoke City in the just concluded season. He played an instrumental role in Stoke City’s record 9th place finish in the Premier League, scoring and assisting 3 goals each as well as completing the most number of dribbles.
He was however blighted by several injury problems which limited him to just 22 appearances for Stoke in all competitions. He was first sidelined for 8 weeks by a thigh injury sustained in the EPL game against Burnley in November 2014 and later by a hamstring problem in another EPL game against West Ham in April 2015, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Mourinho’s decision to loan him out twice indicates that he does not feature in the manager’s plans for the club and he may see Moses’ impressive showing for Stoke City last season as a chance to recoup the 9 million pounds the club paid for him in 2012. With Stoke City showing a lot of interest in the 24-year old Nigerian, the transfer may occur sooner rather than later.
Next: Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah
Signed in the January transfer window of 2013 to replace the departing Juan Mata, his explosive pace and impressive finishing ability, especially in the UEFA Champion’s League where his goals were instrumental to Basel’s victories against Chelsea home and away in the group stage, pushed Mourinho to sanction his purchase for 12 million pounds. His 20 goals in 36 appearances for a struggling Eygptian national side also served to buttress his goal-scoring potential.
He showed some promise in his first few appearances, scoring and assisting 2 goals apiece, including the final goal in the 6-0 routing of Arsenal in the EPL game at Stamford Bridge. In all, he managed 11 appearances in all competitions in what was basically a decent half season.
In this just concluded season however, he struggled to get game time, managing just 3 underwhelming substitute Premier League appearances. While he may have blamed his struggles at on his lack of game time, he failed to make any major impact in the few games he started, putting up below par performances in the cup games he featured in.
His poor showing in the 4-2 F.A. Cup 4th-round defeat to Bradford at Stamford Bridge at the end of January 2015 prompted Mourinho to loan him off to Fiorentina as part of the deal that brought Juan Cuadrado to Stamford Bridge.
While Juan Cuadrado struggled to justify his 23 million pound transfer fee, Salah’s enjoyed an upturn in form at Fiorentina, becoming a key figure at the club. His 2 goals against Juventus in the Copa Italia semi-final first-leg, the first an impressive solo run from his own half, earned his club a memorable 2-1 victory which was made even sweeter by the fact that it was Juventus’ second loss at their new Juventus Stadium.
This, along with other impressive performances, has earned him cult-like status at Fiorentina and even pushed Montella to claim that Salah was an even better signing than Cuadrado.
In all, he scored 9 goals in his 25 appearances for Fiorentina in all tournaments, and while the club is likely to take up its option to extend his loan for the entire 2015-2016 for a reported 750,000 pounds, according to Daily Star, Jose Mourinho may probably decide to use the 22-year old Egyptian’s improved profile to sanction a sale for a higher fee than the 12 million pounds paid to secure his signature.
Next: Chelsea FC Boss Jose Mourinho Claims 'Corruption' Again