The Chelsea fans here in the Transfer Tavern have been a miserable old bunch this season, with the army of supporters regularly found drowning their sorrows each and every weekend.
Italy manager Antonio Conte will take over the position of manager following Euro 2016 and his strict methods look set to pay dividends for the Blues.
As soon as he arrives at Stamford Bridge he is likely to start to stamp his own authority on the squad, with several personnel changes expected during the close season.
Talk among the Chelsea supporting drinkers in the Tavern has turned towards who will come into the club during the summer, although it is likely that players will have to depart first before any signings can be made.
Our writer Lee Clarke took a look at FIVE players who Chelsea could get rid of in order to make way for a series of stellar signings…..
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE FIVE PLAYERS CONTE NEEDS TO AXE!
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Eden Hazard
The little Belgian scooped the PFA Player of the Year award last season, yet he has looked a shadow of that player during the current campaign with a look of disinterest evident at present.
Hazard is clearly unhappy at something and his performances of late have suggested that he is already planning his next move, one that will see him leave Stamford Bridge.
Incoming boss Antonio Conte is not a man to be messing around with players who don’t want to be a part of his team, which will ensure that if Hazard doesn’t alter himself he will undoubtedly be on the way out.
Diego Costa
Another player Conte could be wise to get rid of is Spain striker Diego Costa, who like Hazard, has looked a little ‘lost’ during the current campaign.
His form in front of goal has looked patchy this season and it wouldn’t surprise me if Conte already had a replacement striker lined-up.
Costa also brings a lot of bad press to Chelsea and that could be something that the Italian boss will want to take the club away from.
The striker will have no shortage of suitors should the Blues decide to cash in on their player and a summer move could be on the horizon.
Thibaut Courtois
The Belgian stopper has been lacklustre to say the very least this season, yet Real Madrid are still keen to splash an astonishing £79 million on the goalkeeper.
If that was to be the case and Chelsea receive a bid of that magnitude they quite simply have to sell him.
The money made could go back into buying a goalkeeper who is better than Courtois, which being brutally honest won’t be hard to find given his form this season.
Admittedly the player is still at a reasonable age to develop but I wouldn’t put the goalkeeper in a list of the top 10 goalkeeper’s in the Premier League for the 2015/16 campaign.
Loic Remy
The French striker has been wasted by Chelsea and the 29-year-old needs to be moved on for the good of both the club and the player.
Remy plays better when working with a striker partner, yet Chelsea always play one up front which asks the question as to why they even signed him in the first place.
The striker would get into most Premier League teams outside the big four and keeping him stagnating on the bench would not be a wise move.
Remy has just eight goals from 31 appearances and he will probably be one of the first through the door once Antonio Conte begins assessing his squad in the summer.
Nemanja Matic
The Serbian midfielder is another player who has failed to scale the heights of his form last season and Antonio Conte might look to get rid.
Matic’s form has been so erratic during the current campaign that Jon Obi Mikel has ousted him from the starting eleven.
The 27-year-old defensive midfielder has been flogged by Chelsea once and this summer could signal the end of this time at Stamford Bridge once and for all.
The player still has time on his side but his game is more suited to European football and a move to Italy or Spain could be on the agenda for Matic.
