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Chelsea’s all-time loan army hall of fame, shame, honour and infamy

By The Pride of London Staff

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 10: Joshua McEachran (C) of Chelsea in action against Paul Pogba of Manchester United during the FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.on semi final first leg match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on April 10, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 10: Joshua McEachran (C) of Chelsea in action against Paul Pogba of Manchester United during the FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.on semi final first leg match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on April 10, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /
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WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 10: Liam Moore (C) of England sees his header go narrowly wide as goalkeeper Matej Delac of Croatia looks on during the UEFA U21 Championship Playoff First Leg match between England and Croatia at Molineux on October 10, 2014 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 10: Liam Moore (C) of England sees his header go narrowly wide as goalkeeper Matej Delac of Croatia looks on during the UEFA U21 Championship Playoff First Leg match between England and Croatia at Molineux on October 10, 2014 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) /

5. Matej Delac – George Perry

When John Terry took his leave of Chelsea at the end of the 2016/17 season, a frequent question was who would replace him as club captain. His fellow Englishman and vice-captain Gary Cahill? The understated, diligent consummate professional Cesar Azpilicueta? Cesc Fabregas, the elder statesman who proved his willingness to fight for his place?

Inconspicuously missing from the conversation was the player who replaced Terry as the longest-serving Chelsea man: goalkeeper Matej Delac. Chelsea signed Delac in 2010, well before they welcomed Cahill, Azpilicueta or Fabregas to Stamford Bridge. In his seven years with the club, he not only made zero appearances. He was never even named to the bench with the first-team, reserves, U23’s or anything else.

Delac found himself in some sort of bureaucratic hell with his work permit. While Chelsea and other teams across Europe routinely signed Delac’s fellow Bosnians (his nation of birth) and Croats (the nation he represents in international play), Delac could never secure a work permit to play in England.

[Insert political / governmental take of your choice here]

And so Delac served 10 loans in seven years, including two at Sarajevo and two different levels of Vitoria de Guimaraes. His last two seasons were his most productive as he registered 26 and 28 appearances for Sarajevo and Royal Excel Mouscron, respectively.

Alas, Delac has decided that the time has come for him to shelf his dreams playing for Chelsea and seek a permanent transfer. Whether he is giving up on displacing Thibaut Courtois, Willy Caballero, Eduardo, Jamal Blackman and Marcin Bulka, or on negotiating the Croatian-English work permit labyrinth, Delac will soon cede the crown as senior-most Blue.

Next: Diego Costa's top 10 Chelsea goals: Remembering him at his crazy best

Hopefully he can at least get a temporary visa – perhaps as a tourist – to visit Stamford Bridge for what would surely be the most awkward halftime tribute send-off in football history.

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