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Chelsea are one of the most successful English clubs since the turn of the century.
Since their takeover by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in the early 2000s, Chelsea have consistently been in the Premier League's top echelons and have regularly rubbed shoulders with Europe's best.
Unsurprisingly, some of the finest players in the world have turned up for Chelsea over the years, especially in the last two decades.
Five players who are seemingly surplus to requirements at Chelsea
After finishing a creditable fourth in the 2019-20 Premier League despite their two-transfer-window ban, Chelsea carried out one of the most expensive squad overhauls in the game this summer.
Chelsea managed to address most problem areas in their roster by roping in a mix of youth and experience from around the continent. However, this influx of new players, coupled with a loss of form and injury, have meant that a few players have slipped down the club's pecking order, finding regular first-team football difficult to come by in recent times.
On that note, let us have a look at five players whose futures may lie away from Chelsea.
#5 Danny Drinkwater
Danny Drinkwater was one of the standout players in Leicester City's Premier League triumph in 2015-16. A season later, Chelsea came calling.
However, the player has been a pale shadow of his illustrious self at the London club. Drinkwater has struggled big-time at Chelsea, managing only 23 appearances in all competitions for the club.
The 30-year-old midfielder's career has had a spectacular nosedive since his heady Leicester days as the 'unwanted' Chelsea player has also found game-time difficult to come by during his loan spells at Burnley and Aston Villa.
Drinkwater's lack of professionalism and penchant to be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons (drunk driving, headbutting a teammate, etc.) have largely been his undoing. The player recently spoke about his stint with Chelsea:
"I know my Chelsea move hasn’t worked out how anybody would have wanted and I’ve made mistakes, but it’s not as simple as me just not playing football or picking up a wage."
The 2015-16 Premier League winner hasn't appeared for Chelsea in more than two years. He was rumoured to leave Chelsea in the summer, but a move did not materialise, and he stayed put in West London.
With Drinkwater nowhere near close to breaking into Frank Lampard's first team, a move away from Chelsea could help the player rejuvenate his career when he still has the time to do so.
#4 Marcos Alonso
After being a key player during his first three seasons at Chelsea, Marcos Alonso has found reduced game-time difficult to come by under Frank Lampard.
The 30-year-old, who made over 90 Premier League appearances for the club before Lampard assumed the reins, hasn't played for Chelsea since a calamitous outing in a league game against West Bromwich Albion in September last year.
With the excellent Ben Chilwell making the left-back spot his own since his arrival at Chelsea this summer, Marcos Alonso may need to look elsewhere for regular first-team football.
Alonso remains a quality player; he has scored the most goals by a defender in the Premier League since the 2016-17 season. However, with the Spain international making three appearances in the competition for Chelsea this season, Alonso is seemingly surplus to requirements at the club.
With Chelsea reportedly looking to sell Alonso in January, the player could hope for regular first-team football at another club ahead of the all-important European Championships next summer.
#3 Antonio Rudiger
Antonio Rudiger is another Chelsea 'regular' who has seen his game-time dry up after the arrival of Frank Lampard at the club last season.
The German centre-back, who arrived at Chelsea from AS Roma in the summer of 2017, played 60 Premier League games in two seasons at the club before playing only 20 under Lampard in 2019-20.
The arrival of Brazilian veteran Thiago Silva has only exacerbated the situation for Rudiger, who has further fallen down the pecking order at Chelsea. The 27-year-old has only played one Premier League game for the club this season and has appeared three times in the Champions League.
In fact, the 27-year-old was reportedly keen on a move out of Chelsea this summer in search of more game-time, as observed by Germany boss Jurgen Klopp recently.
“He tried everything to leave Chelsea because the European Championship is very important to him. I think he'll try to leave again in the winter. He's doing everything he can to stay in his best form.”
Nevertheless, Rudiger is likely to leave Chelsea in January for some much-needed first-team football ahead of the European Championships next summer.
#2 Jorginho
After making his name at Napoli as a versatile midfield player, Jorginho arrived at Chelsea in the summer of 2018 and has already made over 100 appearances in all competitions for the London club.
The elegant passer of the ball has appeared in all Champions League games for Chelsea this season but is no longer a first-team regular for Lampard in the Premier League.
After losing his penalty-taking duties to Timo Werner, Jorginho has slipped behind the likes of N'Golo Kante, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz in the club's pecking order in recent times.
The 28-year-old, who was one of Maurizio Sarri's principal proponents of 'Sarriball', likes to operate in a deep-lying midfield role but lacks the ball-winning skills of Kante or Mount. That makes Jorginho incompatible in a 4-2-3-1 formation that Chelsea have adopted in recent times.
Despite Arsenal reportedly being interested in Jorginho's services, Chelsea's £50-million conundrum is not getting any younger and may put off any prospective suitors because of his tactical inflexibility.
#1 Kepa Arrizabalaga
At the age of 17, fresh off the Athletic Bilbao academy, Kepa Arrizabalaga was already talked about as the heir apparent of Iker Casillas in the Spain national team.
Five years later, after pulling off a wonder save to deny a certain Cristiano Ronaldo in a La Liga game, Kepa Arrizabalaga was touted as the next big thing in world football.
Kepa almost replaced the faltering Keylor Navas at Real Madrid before Zinedine Zidane pulled the plug on the move. Soon, Athletic Bilbao quadrupled the goalkeeper's buyout clause to €80 million. But that didn't deter Chelsea from splurging the cash to make Kepa the world's most expensive goalkeeper in the summer of 2018.
However, the player struggled under his enormous price tag, producing a plethora of high-profile errors to attract headlines for all the wrong reasons. Nevertheless, Kepa was a regular at Chelsea during his first two seasons at the club, making 69 Premier League appearances.
However, with Kepa at goal, the Chelsea backline has had an air of vulnerability about it, as the club conceded more than a goal per game last season despite managing to qualify for the Champions League.
The 26-year-old has unsurprisingly lost his starting spot to the excellent Edouard Mendy this summer, with the new arrival playing a key role in Chelsea's new-found defensive resilience.
Despite Chelsea manager Frank Lampard insisting that he is under no pressure to sell Kepa, the player's move away from the club could be the best option for both parties.
