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Oscar AND the seven other Chelsea senior players set to be offloaded as part of huge clear-out
By Editor Wayne Veysey
Chelsea will begin a drastic overhaul of their underperforming squad in the new year, just months after cakewalking to the Premier League title by eight points.
Sources have told Football Insider at least six players are set to be shipped out and replaced in a dramatic shake-up of the team.
With the job of Jose Mourinho safe for the time being, Football Insider analyses which players the manager will push out of the exit door in 2016.
Axe men: Jose Mourinho and ruthless owner Roman Abramovich will sanction major overhaul
Player: Oscar
Age: 24
Contract expires: 2019
The Brazilian arrived in the same summer as Eden Hazard but has failed to match the smooth progress of his fellow attacking midfielder. Oscar was influential in the early months of last season’s title-winning campaign but fell down the pecking order in the final months of the season. He has been in and out of the team this season and there is a feeling among the coaching staff that his touch game is not ideally suited to the rigours of the Premier League, particularly in tricky away matches. Chelsea are now ready to cash in on the £25million signing from Internacional. Should any club be willing to match their £40million valuation – there is interest from Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain – then a sale next year is highly likely.
Deepening division: The relationship between manager and captain has disintegrated
Player: John Terry
Age: 34
Contract expires: 2016
The skipper is fighting for his future and knows it. He turns 35 in December and if he could have a pound for every pundit who says his legs have gone, Terry could go some way to paying off Mourinho’s latest FA fine. In a passionate press conference last week, the former England captain admitted his form this season has been iffy and that he is doing all he can to reach his commanding heights of old. Yet there is more to it than Terry’s willingness or otherwise to play a high defensive line. A unifying dressing room force for over a decade,
the relationship between captain and manager is understood to have been damaged since Terry was hauled off at half-time in the August defeat by Manchester City. The knock-on effect of the rift is that cliques have developed in the dressing room and created divisions between groups of players. Terry has not been able to mend them and his value to the team has subsequently diminished.
Moody blues: Radamel Falcao is a shadow of his former self
Player: Radamel Falcao
Age: 29
Contract expires: 2016
Before signing him on a season-long loan, Mourinho spoke confidently of restoring the Colombian to the form that once made him one of the most feared strikers on the planet. Those have proved to be hollow words as Falcao has somehow pulled off the trick of looking even more ineffective in a blue shirt than he was in the red of Manchester United last season. The 29-year-old has contributed a single goal to date and, in truth, looks a spent force at the highest level. The chances of him being at Stamford Bridge beyond next summer are non-existent and Chelsea will look to find him another club in the January window.
Easy meat: Branislav Ivanovic has struggled against mobile left-wingers this season
Player: Branislav Ivanovic
Age: 31
Contract expires: 2016
The best right-back in the Premier League last season has metamorphosed into meat and drink for any left-winger with a trick and a turn of pace. Injury has kept the long-serving defender out of the team in recent matches as Mourinho keeps the faith. For now. Agreement on a contract extension has been in place for some time but the ruthless hierarchy might decide the money would be better spent on a player with his best years ahead of him.
Fringe player: Loic Remy has been stand-in to Diego Costa during his Chelsea spell
Player: Loic Remy
Age: 28
Contract expires: 2018
A prolific scorer in the Premier League and Ligue 1, the France international has found opportunities hard to come by at Stamford Bridge, where he has played second fiddle to Diego Costa. Remy’s Chelsea strike rate is decent enough – 11 goals in 36 matches – but he does not appear to have the faith of Mourinho, who has bizarrely preferred the pedestrian Falcao to the far more dynamic Frenchman. Remy has started just three of Chelsea’s 18 matches this season and it is unlikely such a proven goalscorer will spend much longer idling his time on the bench. A compromise of a transfer next summer is the likely outcome for the much-travelled front man.
Blue blooded: Mikel has been at Chelsea for nine years
Player: John Obi Mikel
Age: 28
Contract expires: 2017
If you cut were to him up, the midfielder would no doubt bleed blue, such is the length of his association with Chelsea. But the Nigerian’s days of being a first choice have long since disappeared and he has started just five of the club’s 18 matches this season. Mikel’s experience and water carrier abilities remain in demand by Mourinho, especially when a lead needs to be preserved, but the Londoners will listen to offers for one of their longest-serving players next summer.
Moody blues: Diego Costa has been off the boil this season
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And two more……
Player: Diego Costa
Age: 27
Contract expires: 2019
Has the accolade of being the only Chelsea first-teamer not to have been dropped from the starting X1 this season, but that should not be mistaken for meaning the controversial striker’s future at the club is secure. One of the worst-kept secrets at the Bridge is that Costa is hankering after a return to his adopted home of Spain. That was even the case last season, when his goals were decisive in the team’s Premier League title. With the net now bulging less frequently, Costa’s thoughts are said to remain fixed on a change of club. One strong possibility is a return to former employers Atletico Madrid, with the intriguing possibility of a part-exchange with the in-demand Antoine Griezmann.
Player: Eden Hazard
Age: 24
Contract expires: 2020
The Belgian’s fall from grace has precisely mirrored that of his team this season. But it is a sign of Hazard’s status that the Spanish giants are closely monitoring his availability. Chelsea’s prize asset and the reigning Footballer of the Year remains one of the few Premier League players who could walk straight into either the Real Madrid or Barcelona starting X1. The interests of the two clubs is genuine and agents are falling over themselves to help engineer a high profile transfer to Spain for the 24-year-old next summer.