Chelsea Sold XI

FBL-EUR-C1-CHELSEA-ATLETICO
Roman Abramovich

Since Roman Abramovich took over Chelsea in 2003 the Blues have been the most successful team in England with 5 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, 3 League Cups, 1 Champions League and 1 Europa League.

Their success can be largely credited to the money splashed by Abramovich in the transfer market which has helped the club bring in so many world-class talents such as Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba, and Petr Cech etc. and the club has won so many trophies and be absolutely dominant.

Not only transfer the Russian Billionaire is also credited with making Chelsea's youth academy one of the best in the country. Though they rarely come into the first team, but still Chelsea's youth academy is one of the best in the country.

But with all this success and the players they have brought in they have also been guilty of selling some really amazing world-class talents in recent seasons. And to put salt on the wounds of Chelsea fans so many of them are playing for Chelsea's rivals these days.

Here we look at a starting eleven of players sold by Chelsea and we will use a 4-5-1 formation.


Goalkeeper: Peter Cech

Chelsea Thailand Tour
Peter Cech become the 1st goalkeeper in the Premier League Era to keep 200 clean sheets.

The emergence of Thibault Courtois led to the departure of the veteran from Chelsea. Though the Blues never wanted to sell him to a direct rival like Arsenal, due to his personal situation he wanted to stay in London and Roman Abramovich made sure that he stays in London, even at the cost of him playing for rivals Arsenal.

The current Arsenal No.1 made a name for himself during his time at Chelsea and he is still regarded highly by the Chelsea faithful. He won 4 Premier League, 1 Champions League, 1 Europa League, 4 FA Cups and 3 League Cups during his time at Stamford Bridge.

When Chelsea sold him he was still 32 and Mourinho described him as a very young legend. At Arsenal, he showed that he still had plenty of his peak left in him, since his arrival at Arsenal he has managed to become the first goalkeeper to have 200 clean sheets in the Premier League era.

Though the decision to sell him has never been criticised, but many Chelsea fans believe that Thibault Courtois is not a big character like him and the Belgian has never really been a match saver for the Blues rather because of his horrendous error's Chelsea lost to FC Barcelona in the Champions League.

Left Back: Ryan Bertrand

Birmingham City v Chelsea - FA Cup Fifth Round Replay
Ryan Bertrand made his debut for Chelsea in the Champions League final.

A lot was expected from him during his days at Chelsea and many hailed him as the successor to Ashely Cole. Since the departure of the former Arsenal fullback, Chelsea spent nearly £55 million in search of a new consistent fullback and for the time being, it seems that Marcos Alonso has provided them with that consistency.

The Southampton left back is actually a product of Chelsea's youth academy and also started in the Chelsea's famous Champions League final win against Bayern Munich in 2012. The same season he also won an FA Cup with the Blues and Europa League the next season.

There is no doubt that Chelsea made a mistake by letting their youth academy product leave. In Bertrand, they had a natural English successor to Cole. Also except Gary Cahill Chelsea have really lacked quality English players in their squad.

He also revealed that he did not feel like a player at Chelsea and it seems like he was also a victim of Chelsea's unofficial policy of not promoting youth players from the academy at that time.


Right Back: Branislav Ivanović

Chelsea v Brentford - The Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round
Ivanovic scored many crucial goals for Chelsea.

The Serbian beast during his prime was one of the most toughest opponents to face in the Premier League. Though naturally, he was a centre back but with improvisation, he became a brilliant right back for Chelsea.

Though Chelsea sold him to Zenit Petersburg on a free transfer, but he still had a contract till the summer of 2017. At Chelsea, he won one Champions League, one Europa League, three Premier League titles, three FA Cups and one League Cup.

The former OFK Beograd defender scored many crucial goals for Chelsea during his time at the Stamford Bridge. He netted the winner in the last minute of injury time against Benfica in the Europa League final. As well as netting the crucial fourth goal against Napoli in the Round of 16 in 2012, which Chelsea eventually went on to win.

He has been named in PFA team of the year twice. He made more than 300 appearances for the club making him one of the 6 foreign players to do so for Chelsea.

Centre Back: Nathan Ake

Middlesbrough v Chelsea - FA Cup Fifth Round
Nathan Ake scored against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The Bournemouth defender was one of Chelsea's most promising defenders and he is actually a product of Chelsea's youth academy. During his time at Chelsea, he has won 2 Premier League titles, 1 League Cup, and 1 Europa League. Though he did not play any crucial part in those titles.

He was sent on various loan spells and he was mostly impressive. In 2016 he joined Bournemouth on loan only to be recalled by Chelsea in January to help them make a push for the title.

The Dutch defender biggest moment as a defender for Chelsea came when he started an FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham at Wembley and he displayed plenty of maturity and played an excellent game for the Blues.

Last summer he was sold by Chelsea to Bournemouth for £20 million, but Chelsea also inserted a buy-back clause in his contract. This season he came back to haunt his former club as he scored against them at Stamford Bridge in a 3-0 win for Bournemouth.


Centre Back: Jeffrey Burma

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Chelsea v Aston Villa - Stamford Bridge
Burma rejected the chance to come back to Stamford Bridge.

Though he may not as popular as other players on the list but he is definitely a very solid player. The Dutch international joined Chelsea as a teenager and like many others, he was a part of the loan army for Chelsea. He made loan moves to Leicester City and Hamburg before permanently signing for PSV.

He was then sold by PSV to Wolfsburg and he is currently playing his trade for in the Bundesliga. Though Chelsea did insert a buy-back clause in his contract and in 2016 they even tried to re-sign the defender, but he rejected the chance to come back to Stamford Bridge.

The defender is also very versatile he can play at right back and a centre back as well. He is very athletic and at 6'2 he possesses a good aerial ability. Also, he is very comfortable on the ball and has got good passing range.

He would also have helped Chelsea in fulfilling their criteria of homegrown players and Chelsea would have loved to see a youth academy player become a regular for the first team.

Central Midfielder: Nemanja Matic

Soccer : Barclays Premier League - Chelsea v Manchester United
Chelsea have clearly missed Matic in their midfield.

Serbian was re-signed by Jose Mourinho during his second spell at Stamford Bridge. With Chelsea, he won two Premier League titles and one League Cup. In the summer of 2017, he signed for Chelsea's arch-rivals Manchester United for a sum of £40 million.

Matic made his second debut for Chelsea against Manchester City and he was named Man of the Match in that game. On his debut against City, he pocketed Yaya Toure who at that time was at his peak.

Not only this the former Benfica midfielder was also instrumental in Chelsea's title win's in 2015 and 2017. His defensive displays allowed the likes of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa to lead Chelsea to two Premier League titles.

It is very clear that Chelsea have missed him in the midfield as his replacement Tiémoué Bakayoko has been very poor. At the start of the season, his former partner in crime Ngolo Kante also missed him. While he has prospered at Old Trafford and was named their signing of the season.


Central Midfielder: Ramires

Manchester United v Chelsea - Premier League
Ramires was the perfect box to box midfielder for Chelsea.

The Brazilian joined Chelsea from Benfica in 2010 and he was an instant hit at Stamford Bridge. He was a proper box to box midfielder and he never really seems to run out of battery. He would make plenty of tackles and he would also make runs forward to help the team when attacking.

During his six-year stay with Chelsea, he won one Champions League, one Europa League, one Premier League, one League Cup and one FA Cup. He also won the Player's Player of the award at Chelsea.

Ramires best moment in a Chelsea jersey came when out of nowhere in popped up to chip over Victor Valdes in the Champions League semi-final against FC Barcelona at Camp Nou at a time when Chelsea were losing 2-1 on aggregate. That goal was crucial as Chelsea went on to win the Champions League that season.

He left Chelsea for a sum of £25million in 2016 for Chinese Super League side where he earns a lot of money and plays under Fabio Capello.


Attacking Midfielder: Juan Mata

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Chelsea v Crystal Palace - Stamford Bridge
Juan Mata gave very important assists for Chelsea.

The Spaniard joined Chelsea under André Villas-Boas from Valencia and he was voted Chelsea player of the year for two years in a row in 2012 and 2013. He also provided many assists during his time at Chelsea and he made 135 appearances for the Blues providing 58 assists.

With Chelsea, he won one Champions League, one Europa League and one FA Cup. The former Valencia attacking midfielder was one of the fan favorites and it was a joy to watch his flair and wonderful technique on the ball.

Things started to look bad for him when Jose Mourinho arrived for his spell at Stamford Bridge and he preferred to use Oscar as his No.10, who was far less creative but more industrious than him. He was sold to Manchester United in the January transfer window for £37.1million.

Chelsea fans still remember his most important assist for the club when he took the corner which was converted by a Didier Drogba header in Munich in the Champions League final. And his second most important assist was when he took the corner which was converted by Ivanovic against Benfica in the Europa League final in 2013.


Attacking Midfielder: Kevin De Bruyne

Soccer : Barclays Premier League - Chelsea v Hull City
Since leaving Chelsea De Bruyne has become one of the best players in the world.

The former Wolfsburg midfielder was signed by Chelsea from Belgian outfit Genk. He made just 9 appearances for the Chelsea registering one assist in the process. He was loaned out twice once to Genk as soon as he was signed and then to Werder Bremen. Despite assurances from Mourinho he was never really given a chance at Stamford Bridge.

He was sold to Wolfsburg for nearly £20 million and during his time in Germany he was sensational in the Bundesliga. In his first season with the club, he racked up 16 goals and 27 assists and he was named the Footballer of the Year Germany 2015.

In summer 2015 he was signed by Manchester City for a then club record fee of £55 million. Since then he has become one of the best players in the world and under Pep Guardiola he has become even more influential.

This season he also scored against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and it is very much clear that Chelsea wasted the chance to have a potential Premier League great player in their team. What hurts Chelsea fans the most is that he is playing so amazingly for their direct rivals Manchester City.

Forward: Mohamed Salah

Chelsea v Arsenal - Premier League
Chelsea have struggled for goals this season, but Mo Salah has scored plenty of them.

The King of Egypt is right now considered to a big contender for the Ballon D or. But his first stint in the Premier League came with Chelsea. He was signed by Jose Mourinho for £11 million. He made 19 appearances for Chelsea scoring 2 goals, but he managed to get a Premier League and a League Cup winners medal.

He struggled in his first season at Chelsea and at the start of 2014 he was loaned to Fiorentina. In a deal which saw Juan Cuadrado move in other direction. He impressed during his time at Fiorentina and subsequently, he was loaned to Roma next season with an option and in 2016 he permanently joined Roma.

In the summer of 2017, Liverpool signed him for £42 million and since then he had a terrific campaign for Liverpool breaking records after records and winning many individual awards as well.

It is clear that Chelsea have really struggled very badly for goals this season and Mo Salah has scored plenty of them this season. If he was still at Chelsea they would have been probably in the top four rather than Liverpool, because he has been a proper talisman for them and he even scored against Chelsea at Anfield.


Forward: Diego Costa

Arsenal v Chelsea - The Emirates FA Cup Final
Chelsea have clearly missed Diego Costa on the pitch.

"Diego Diego Deigo" is what the Chelsea fans loved to sing when Diego Costa was at Stamford Bridge. The Brazilian born Spanish striker joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid for £32 million and he was an instant hit with fans. He scored 20 goals in his debut campaign as Chelsea went on to win the Premier League and the League Cup.

The Chelsea fans absolutely loved him because of his fighting spirit and the beast he was on the pitch. Costa was truly a fighter for Chelsea. In the 2016-17 campaign, he again scored 20 goals as Chelsea went on to win their second Premier League title in three years.

The former Celta Vigo striker was also a match winner for Chelsea as his goals in the 2016-17 Premier League campaign helped them win 15 points. Due to his troubled relationship with Antonio Conte, he was shown door by him via a text message and he sealed his move back to Spain with Atletico Madrid for £57 million.

It is very much clear that Chelsea have missed Costa in every sense not only statistically but his presence on the pitch was also intimidating. To make matters worse for them his replacement Alvaro Morata had a horrendous campaign as he missed out on Spain National Squad for the 2018 World Cup.

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Edited by Zeeshan Ali