Yesterday, news broke that Chelsea FC were in negotiations with Southampton in order to facilatate the transfer of Oriol Romeu to the Saints. Not soon after, the club officially confirmed that Romeu would head to St Mary’s permanently.
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The midfielder joined the Blues in the summer of 2011, with his career seemingly hitting a brick wall at Barcelona. He was bled into the first team during the 2011/12 season, making 24 competitive appearances, and was set to feature prominently in the subsequent campaign.
However, he picked up a serious knee injury in December 2012 which ruled him out for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, he never impressed Jose Mourinho enough to be included in his squads and Romeu was sent on loan to Valencia and VfB Stuttgart for a season apiece.
Now, he has been moved on to Southampton for a fee rumoured to be around £5million and marks yet another young Chelsea starlet who hasn’t quite managed to reach his potential at Stamford Bridge.
With that in mind, let’s look at five promising players who have left West London since Mourinho returned.
This article is by no means blaming Mourinho for failing to bring these prospects into the senior team, it is merely a way to provide time constraints.
Next: Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku
Lukaku joined Chelsea from Anderlecht for £10million in 2011. After a couple of very impressive seasons with the Belgian side, the then 18-year-old came to Stamford Bridge with a very bright future.
Lukaku made 12 competitive appearances in his first campaign, but he expressed his disappointment with his lack of game time, despite still being a teenager. The striker was then loaned out to West Bromwich Albion and Everton over the next couple of seasons, delivering close to one goal in every other appearance.
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However, his time away was tainted with constant rumours that he was unhappy with his situation at Stamford Bridge, and that he wanted to end his contracted time at Chelsea prematurely.
This worried Blues fans and management, who viewed him as the ready-made replacement for Didier Drogba. His large frame, coupled with speed and athleticism made for a front-man who could develop into a force to be reckoned with in world football, let alone the Premier League.
Unfortunately, his heart was seemingly set on leaving Chelsea and Jose Mourinho accepted Everton’s offer to make him a permanent Toffees player. To be fair to the club, Roberto Martinez did offer an Everton-record fee close to £30million for the Belgian. Furthermore, Lukaku’s disappointing form last time out did go some way to justify the deal on Chelsea’s part.
Nevertheless, this is a 22-year-old with a wealth of top flight experience and nearly 40 national senior team appearances to his name. You can’t help but feel as though Chelsea have missed out.
Next: Ryan Bertrand
Ryan Bertrand
How much would Chelsea like to have Ryan Bertrand back at Stamford Bridge?
Bertrand joined the Blues at the age of 15 and was nurtured through his teen years by the academy staff. When I say nurtured, I really mean farmed out. The full-back was loaned out seven times after joining the club in 2005, but was highly-rated by the Chelsea staff.
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He broke into the senior squad during the 2010/11 season, and made sporadic appearances over the next four years. His only real campaign as a Blues player was during the season partly managed by Rafa Benitez, when he made 38 competitive appearances.
Nonetheless, it was evident that Bertrand was a supremely talented player, and a quality replacement for Ashley Cole in the left-back spot. Furthermore, he showed his versatility by starting the triumphant 2012 Champions League Final in the left-wing role, putting in a solid performance. That was in fact his European debut and his involvement in quite possibly the greatest night in Chelsea FC’s history means that he will never be forgotten at Stamford Bridge.
Despite this, he didn’t cut the mustard for Mourinho and was sold to Southampton this past February, having been on loan at St Mary’s for the first part of the season.
Bertrand subsequently went on to prove his quality by doing enough to be named in the PFA Team Of The Year for 2014/15.
How great does Bertrand and Azpilicueta at left- and right-back sound now?
Next: Jeffrey Bruma
Jeffrey Bruma
Jeffrey Bruma is a name that Chelsea fans will be very familiar with, but may not really know much about. Bruma was brought into the Stamford Bridge youth set-up from Feyenoord at 15 years of age, and stewed in the reserve ranks for a couple of years.
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Recognising his potential, Carlo Ancelotti handed the defender his senior team debut at the age of 18. He continued to learn from the older players in West London for a while before he was finally fed into the loan machine. He was subsequently sent to Leicester City before spending two seasons in the Bundesliga with Hamburger SV.
However, upon returning to Chelsea following the conclusion of the 2012/13 season, he was sold to PSV Eindhoven before the summer was up.
Bruma seemed like an immensely talented player, but with the likes of John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ricardo Carvalho and Gary Cahill at the club during his time, he was never properly afforded a chance with the senior team.
The Netherlands international, meanwhile, has since gone on to prove his worth in the Eredivisie. He has made over 40 appearances in each of the last two campaigns, and has added a league title to his name.
Furthermore, at the age of 23, he has the opportunity to get even better.
Next: Josh McEachran
Josh McEachran
McEachran is arguably the most tragic case out of this lot. He joined the Blues all the way back in 2001 and worked his way up through the ranks. Carlo Ancelotti gave him his break in the 2010/11 season when the then 17-year-old made 17 appearances for Chelsea.
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He was the next big thing. He was the player who was supposed to be paraded as the future of Chelsea FC. He was the next Frank Lampard.
Unfortunately, he failed to impress Andre Villas-Boas when he took over from Ancelotti and he also succumbed to the loan machine. Several temporary deals followed, including one to everyone’s favourite club Vitesse, and he did not make another Chelsea appearance.
His career was at crossroads this summer with his contract running out, and Chelsea offloaded to him to Brentford FC for a minimal fee. No disrespect to Brentford (they indeed reach the Championship Play-Offs last season) but McEachran was supposed to be better than this. The Englishman was destined to rule Chelsea’s midfield for the next decade.
This was not to be.
One can only hope that he flourishes at Griffin Park and that we see him back where he belongs in the top flight sometime soon.
Next: Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne
De Bruyne joined Chelsea in 2012, having proven himself as one of the top stars in Belgium. The 21-year-old was then sent on loan to Werder Bremen for the season where he contributed 10 goals and 11 assists to the German team’s cause.
However, this was not enough to guarantee him regular playing time under a returning Jose Mourinho. The Belgian winger only made three league appearances before his short stay at Stamford Bridge was ended in January 2014 when the forward was shipped off to Wolfsburg for just under £20million.
De Bruyne was earmarked a future superstar of world football, and a prized piece of the talented crop coming out of Belgium. Unfortunately, he just didn’t seem to fit in at Chelsea. Jose Mourinho recently explained why he chose to move De Bruyne on.
"He needed a team where he knows he can play every game. He needs to know that he is important. He did not want a team where he thinks: “Am I playing or not?” He needs that trust, he needs that quality. He needs that security. – via The Daily Mail"
Mourinho claims that there are no hard feelings between the pair, but the more cynical among us may attribute that to the fact that De Bruyne has seriously impressed since leaving.
The Belgian was named Bundesliga Player Of The Year for last season, and has been outstanding to the point that Manchester City have been reportedly weighing up a bid for him worth close to £50million.
De Bruyne did not reach his potential at Chelsea because he wasn’t afforded the opportunity for whatever reason. Now he is one of the premier footballers in Europe.
Let’s just all hope that he doesn’t end up at The Etihad.
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