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"The Chelsea Academy is becoming a fundraiser event."
With all the recent sales, no one can deny that. So many promising talents in the academy but all they do is play for the Vitesse Arnhem or head out on loan to various English clubs.
So many young players have had their careers ruined by such loan moves. The loan deals were supposed to get them first team experience before they were promoted to play for Chelsea.
When the time came to promote them, Chelsea bought players from elsewhere and sold their academy star. Here are 5 promising players who never made it at Chelsea:
#5 Nathan Aké
Reading, Watford and Bournemouth - the three clubs Nathan Ake was loaned out to gain first team experience. He played a combined total of 39 matches at the clubs before he was recalled by Antonio Conte in January 2017.
After being recalled, he was benched. Chelsea fans expected him to replace Gary Cahill in the first XI but now, Ake has been sold to Bournemouth for £20 million while Cahill is still at the club.
Ake wanted to play regularly, and with him being 22, you can't blame him. He deserved to play in the first team but Chelsea casually sold him to Bournemouth and signed Antonio Rudiger.
#4 Nathaniel Chalobah
Watford, Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough, Burnley, Reading and then Napoli. While no Chelsea manager gave him a chance, it was Antonio Conte who finally handed him a chance to play for The Blues.
However, after making just 10 appearances in the Premier League for Chelsea, he has been sold to Watford. The midfielder was expected to make the starting XI next season alongside N'Golo Kante but with Conte keen on signing Tiemoué Bakayoko from AS Monaco, he knew his chances were going to be limited once again.
He decided that he needed to play more regularly and decided to move to Watford. He could have easily offered whatever Bakayoko is going to bring. Like Chelsea's former assistant manager, Ray Wilkins said, the players are of the same age and it was Nathan who deserved to be donning the Chelsea colours next season.
#3 Ryan Bertrand
When he made his Champions League debut in the 2012 final at the Allianz Arena, he shocked everyone with his impressive performance. He was seen as the ideal hire to Ashley Cole and was touted by many to be better than the Chelsea legend.
However, things didn't go as planned. He was kept in the squad under Di Matteo and Rafa Benitez but was never used by the two managers.
And when Jose Mourinho arrived, he opted to play Cesar Azpilicueta on the left side of the defence and then signed Filipe Luis from Atletico Madrid. He was eventually sold to Southampton and he has been showing Chelsea exactly what he can do.
The defender has been playing his heart out every week and is now a target for Manchester City. He is reportedly slapped with a price tag of £45 million - around £35 million more than what they signed him for!
#2 Josh McEachran
When Carlo Ancelotti handed a 17-year-old Josh McEachran his debut against MŠK Žilina in the Champions League group stage, everyone saw something special in the making. He then replaced Ramies against Manchester City, it was the clear that he was ready for the first team.
However, despite impressing under Ancelotti, the midfielder's dream went away when the manager was sacked after the end of the 2010/11 season. What followed was a series of loans where he hardly made any starts.
His career was not given a chance at Chelsea at all and was sold to Bradford City in the summer of 2015 for a mere £750,000. Someone who could have become one of the best in the world was converted into a mediocre player who can't even flourish in the Championship.
#1 Bertrand Traore
While many might tend to disagree, selling Bertrand Traore might end up being the worst mistake Chelsea ever made. He has all it takes to become a lethal striker.
Chelsea have a sell-on clause on the 21-year-old, meaning they can get him back for 85% of the fee any other club is ready to pay for him. However, the fee might be 10x of what they sold him for – £10.5 million.
He impressed Antonio Conte during the pre-season and many expected him to be on the bench for the Blues last season. But to everyone's surprise, including the player's, he was loaned out to Ajax.
He played exceptionally well at the Dutch club, guiding them to the Europa League final but could not score against Manchester United and win the European competition for them.
He is now at Lyon and is set to lead their attack in Ligue 1 next season. Should he continue developing the way he has been, watch out for clubs making world record bids for him in the coming years.
