Chelsea supporters in the Football Transfer Tavern will be loving life at the top of the Premier League, and now with Diego Costa’s future sorted and the striker set to stay at Stamford Bridge – at least until the summer – attentions have turned to the fringe players that could leave the club before the January transfer window closes next week.

One of the Blues stars that has been linked with a move away from the top flight leaders in recent days is second-choice goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, with Bournemouth understood to have already had a £10m bid for the 29-year-old rejected – not many Blues supporters standing at the bar would begrudge him a move away before the end of the month.

The former Stoke City stopper has often found himself on the substitutes’ bench since moving to west London from the Potters in 2015, with Thibaut Courtois cementing his place between the sticks under Antonio Conte this term – something which is sure to have frustrated the Bosnia and Herzegovina international, and something that is completely understandable to the landlord too.

Here are THREE reasons why Chelsea need to Begovic leave immediately…

He wants first team football

Understandably, after making just four appearances this season and 29 in total since the start of the 2015/16 campaign, Begovic is unhappy at Chelsea and looking for more regular first team football – the Blues fans that frequent the tavern would be satisfied provided they bring in a decent replacement first.

Because of his form and the high regard that Thibaut Courtois is held in by the club and manager Antonio Conte, those more regular minutes aren’t likely to come at Stamford Bridge, so it makes sense for the Blues to let the 29-year-old move on to pastures new – the landlord would prefer to see another experienced goalkeeper replace him though.

They will make another profit

Chelsea appear to have a brilliant knack of selling fringe players on for a profit on what they initially paid for them, and it looks to be the case again with Begovic – even some of the fans standing at the bar can’t believe their luck at times!

The Blues paid £8m to bring the Bosnian goalkeeper to Stamford Bridge from Stoke City in 2015, yet they have already rejected a £10m bid from Bournemouth for the 29-year-old’s services, despite the fact that he has only played a bit-part role this term.

Last year, the west London outfit have made profits on selling midfielder Oscar to China and Papy Djilobodji to Sunderland respectively, with the latter’s made even more remarkable by the fact he only played a couple of minutes in his career with the Blues – the landlord hopes that good business continues in the future!

Fresh competition for Courtois

Moving Begovic on would also allow Chelsea to up their search to bring in some serious competition for Thibaut Courtois, or even a replacement if the rumours that the Belgian is keen to join Real Madrid in the summer are to be believed – that is one story that the Blues supporters standing at the bar will hope is fabricated!

While Begovic has little chance of ever establishing himself as the Blues’ number one stopper, the likes of Manchester City’s Joe Hart, AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Stoke City’s Jack Butland and Sunderland’s Jordan Pickford certainly could, and Antonio Conte would potentially like to start that process sooner rather than later – the landlord would love to see Hart, in particular, at Stamford Bridge

Do you agree, Chelsea fans? Let us know below.