Chelsea are often one of the biggest and most active clubs in the transfer window, and last summer was no exception with the Blues offloading or loaning out over 50 players.
With such an incredible turnover of personnel, it’s no wonder that keeping track of every single player and their process is a task only deemed worthy for those dedicated to Chelsea, like us over here on the Chelsea Chronicle.
Indeed, the dozens of players who left Chelsea last summer, only a handful of names actually played for the senior squad, and these are the select few we will be looking at today, with the Blues offloading eight names who featured for the first-team.
Marco van Ginkel
With just four senior appearances for Chelsea, Marco van Ginkel spent more years out on loan than actual caps for the Blues, a fact that highlights the west London side’s incredible exploitation of the market.
After spells at AC Milan, Stoke City and PSV, the 29-year-old Van Ginkel eventually signed for the Eindhoven-based club on a permanent deal, with the midfielder spending three seasons on loan with the Dutch giants, where the former Vitesse star has been a regular this campaign.
Victor Moses
Another player who spent an incredible amount of time out on loan, Victor Moses is best remembered for his role in Antonio Conte’s Chelsea side that won the 2016/17 Premier League title, with the Nigerian winger reborn under the current Tottenham manager.
However, Moses’ role as a right-wingback was short-lived, and once Conte had been sacked, the winger was back on the loan market for another three years before Spartak Moscow signed the 31-year-old on a permanent deal.
Olivier Giroud
Olivier Giroud’s time at Chelsea was mostly spent coming off the bench to save the day when needed late on in a fixture, and with the 2022 FIFA World Cup on the horizon, the French international decided to leave for AC Milan in search of regular football.
And regular football he has found, with Giroud playing a key role in Milan’s historic Serie A title challenge and guiding the Rossoneri to back-to-back UEFA Champions League qualifications, with the striker playing almost 40 games in all competitions.
Marc Guehi
The next two entries are somewhat cheating as neither played for Chelsea at senior level, but for Marc Guehi, his success this season cannot go overlooked after the defender joined Crystal Palace in a £21m deal.
The centre-back has been sensational for the Eagles this season, with Guehi even winning his first England international call-up and Gareth Southgate likely to bleed the talented defender into the Three Lions set-up ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.
Tino Livramento
Another Cobham product that has set the Premier League on fire this season, Tino Livramento has been nothing short of a revelation for Southampton, with the Saints signing the Chelsea Academy Player of the Year for just £5m.
Now worth almost ten times that if some reports are to be believed, Livramento is set for a huge future in the Premier League, with the right-back one of the youngest players in the division this season to be playing consistent football under Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Tammy Abraham
Tammy Abraham’s departure was seen as the ideal move as it allowed Chelsea to sign Romelu Lukaku for a club-record fee. Yet fast-forward to now, and the Blues could not have got a transfer so wrong.
Abraham has taken AS Roma by storm and this season became the highest-scoring Englishman in a single Serie A season, whilst Lukaku has spent the majority of the year struggling for Chelsea, with his future this summer already up in the air.
Davide Zappacosta
Davide Zappacosta spent a year of his career at Atalanta on the road that led to the right-back to Chelsea, and since returning to Bergamo last summer, the 29-year-old hasn’t put a foot wrong for the Italian side.
Whilst the up-and-coming club have missed out on Europe as a whole this season, Zappacosta has been an impressive performer for Atalanta, with the former Chelsea star bagging eight assists in all competitions, including one against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League.
Kurt Zouma
Chelsea looked set to offload Kurt Zouma in the summer, and the deal finally came through in the final days of the transfer window when the defender joined West Ham in a deal worth £30m.
Off-the-pitch controversies aside, Zouma has been impressive for the Irons this season as the defender has guided the east London side to another European finish, though the centre-back missed most of West Ham’s UEFA Europa League knockout run due to injury.