For 99.9 per cent of our Chelsea supporters here in the Football Transfer Tavern, the international break came at the right time with the Blues seemingly being unable to accumulate points in the Premier League no matter how they play.
Despite playing very well on Saturday evening against Stoke City, the Blues still came away from the Britannia Stadium pointless following Marko Arnautovic’s goal and if the truth be told, it’s all getting far too much for some of our hardened Chelsea fans at the moment.
Having endured what seems like the worst title defence ever, Chelsea will have to go some to even finish in fourth place with the remainder of the season to go but all the Blues can do now is take it a game at a time.
With Norwich City next up at Stamford Bridge on November 21st, that of course looks winnable for Chelsea and if they put in the kind of performance they did away at Stoke of late, perhaps their fortunes will change.
While many first team players have disappointed so far this season, it’s unlikely that the likes of Branislav Ivanovic and Cesc Fabregas will be axed in January but nevertheless, some of their team-mates might find themselves getting acquainted with the Stamford Bridge exit door.
Here’s five current Blues stars who could be on their way out of West London come the New Year.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five Chelsea players destined for the chop in January.
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Papy Djilobodji
Remember him; the guy you signed in the summer Chelsea fans?
In truth, we could spare some Blues supporters from having forgotten about Papy Djilobodji altogether given the fact he’s only received a minute of action so far in a Blues shirt.
Having only made Jose Mourinho’s matchday squad TWICE and in the Capital One Cup to boot, the Senegalese international was a 93rd minute substitution for Radamel Falcao who was withdrawn in injury time against Walsall away back in September.
Since his panicked signing on deadline day after Chelsea missed out on Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos, we read in the Daily Mail that the Blues signed him on recommendation with Jose Mourinho admitting he wasn’t his specific choice.
It appears this is unfortunately ringing true for Djilobodji who is the dictionary definition of an ‘outcast’ right now who’ll definitely be one of the first out the door should Chelsea land a new top class defender in January you’d imagine.
For Djilobodji, he’ll forever appear in those worst ever Blues signings and Chelsea flop-type articles although in fairness to the player, nobody has even seen what he can do yet!
But if he can’t get into the Chelsea defence with John Terry, Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma having made mistakes this season, he never will!
Oscar
A controversial selection in this gallery but question yourself this; has Oscar built upon his first couple of seasons at Chelsea?
What you’ll find is that the Brazilian international has been on a steady decline with Oscar no longer being an immediate choice in Jose Mourinho’s starting eleven.
With Pedro brought in from Barcelona in the summer, we’ve seen Mourinho deploy Willian in the number 10 role on occasions with Oscar missing out and in truth, you can’t blame the manager.
Seemingly gone are the days when Oscar burst onto the scene with that incredible curled effort past Juventus’ Gianluigi Buffon in the Champions League with several subdued performances now setting the tone.
The Serie A giants have frequently been linked with Oscar’s signature in recent transfer windows and talkSPORT reported today that the Bianconeri are still interested.
If Chelsea want to go out and land the likes of Antoine Griezmann or plot an audacious swoop for Paul Pogba, perhaps a big money departure for Oscar in January wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Then again, Chelsea would have to complete a miraculous recovery this season to even think about landing these players next summer, right?
Radamel Falcao
At the time, no football fan here in the Football Transfer Tavern thought Radamel Falcao’s loan switch to Chelsea was a wise move and so it is proving.
We heard Jose Mourinho claim back in the summer that he wanted to help the Colombian get back to the dizzying heights he once used to scale in his time spent at Atletico Madrid but that is purely a pipedream now.
Having registered just one goal this season against Crystal Palace, Falcao hasn’t managed to shake his bit-part status at the club despite Diego Costa having endured a poor season up front himself.
Even in the 20 or so minute spells Falcao has emerged from the bench, we haven’t really seen any class from the Monaco loanee either with the transfer having looked doomed from minute one.
Back in October, The Mirror reported that Chelsea are already considering not making Falcao’s loan permanent and if this was to prove the case in the New Year, no Blues supporter would miss his contribution, that’s for sure!
Bertrand Traore
One of the few Chelsea loan stars to have grabbed Jose Mourinho’s attentions, so much so that he was awarded a first team squad number with the Blues for their Premier League campaign this term, Bertrand Traore is still ultimately a peripheral figure in the Blues’ plans.
The Burkinabé winger smashed in 17 Eredivisie goals in 48 appearances for Vitesse Arnhem over two seasons previously and this was enough to get him into Chelsea’s squad proper but so far this 2015/16 campaign, Traore has only appeared twice from the bench – against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League and Stoke City in the Capital One Cup.
Still awaiting his Premier League debut, we think Traore may make this with another club on loan in January with Chelsea surely going out on the market to sign some reinforcements.
A temporary transfer to a lesser Premier League outfit may suit Traore well although you’d imagine this could be the start of the end of his Chelsea dream with the likes of AFC Bournemouth loanee Christian Atsu still retained on the Blues’ books with little chance of ever making it – under the current Mourinho regime anyway!
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
One of, if not the brightest hope from Chelsea’s academy ranks, Ruben Loftus-Cheek has clocked up more playing time for England this season rather than at club level!
An undoubtedly talented young central midfielder, Loftus-Cheek has still received the wrath of Jose Mourinho on a few occasions and you can’t help but feel that he may be prospering better elsewhere.
A lot of Chelsea fans have been calling for Loftus-Cheek to remain in the starting eleven in terms of his own development and the fact he can’t do a lot worse than Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas who have uncharacteristically been off the boil so far this season.
However, it appears Mourinho is keeping faith with his experienced players to get them out of their current mire so we think a temporary loan switch in January could be taking place.
In terms of a potential destination, the likes of Swansea City who play an expansive style could suit Loftus-Cheek well or alternatively, perhaps a good level Championship outfit like Derby County who also play an open game.
