Tiemoue Bakayoko has yet to been spotted in Chelsea pre-season training, which heavily points towards his exit from Stamford Bridge.
Hoards of returning loan players have cascaded upon Cobham’s pitches, many of whom haven’t played for the team in years.
Forgotten names like Baba Rahman, Matt Miazga, and Danny Drinkwater have all found themselves emersed in Thomas Tuchel’s camp.
Curious case of Bakayoko
However, one figure who appears to be missing from the latest round of photos is Bakayoko.
The 26-year-old spent all of the previous campaign on loan with Napoli, where he made 44 appearances in all competitions.
Which is actually one more than he’s managed across his entire Chelsea career since he was signed from Monaco in 2017 for £40m (BBC Sport).
Moves to Milan, back to Monaco, and then Napoli have strung out quite a sour relationship with the Blues hierarchy.
It now appears they have reached the end of their tether with Bakayoko.
This may change over the next few weeks.
Yet, with nearly all the other loanees landing back at their parent club, it seems strange that the midfielder wouldn’t be present as well.
In fairness, the Frenchman is reportedly being monitored by Milan and Napoli, as two of his former employees look to find him a route out.
Although, the Sun recently claimed that Chelsea had offered Bakayoko an extension on his contract, in order to raise his transfer value.
A risky move, especially considering the current state of the financial market.
Hopefully, for the player’s sake, this saga doesn’t stretch out for much longer.
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