Should THIS ex-Chelsea left back still be at the club?

With all the transfer speculation surrounding Chelsea at present I wanted to get your opinions on someone we sold last season, and ask if you think he should still be at Chelsea?

Ryan Bertrand was sold to Southampton last season before the close of the summer transfer window and had a really good season playing regular first team football.

In the last couple of seasons at the club, it seemed that Bertrand was making progress by featuring in more and more games including the biggest of them all - the Champions League Final.

However, upon the arrival of Jose Mourinho, Bertrand found himself back out of the squad and initially sent out on loan to Aston Villa for the second part of the season, then sold last summer.

Speaking about what happened at Chelsea and how he feels now he said:

“For me it wasn’t a case of ‘my career isn’t going right, I’m not playing for Chelsea. I know personally I should still be there and I should still be playing [for them].

I know that in myself. That’s my inner confidence. It’s nothing to do with my capabilities that I’m not there, it’s purely circumstance but it is no drama. That is football and these things happen. I’m not trying to prove people wrong and I’ve no grudges [with Mourinho], no chip on my shoulder. Football is football, business is business.

I am fantastically happy at Southampton now, playing week in, week out, developing as a footballer and really enjoying life. I don’t even look back and wish I’d made the move sooner. Everyone has their own path and this is mine, and I’m thankful for everything I learned in my years at Chelsea. I played with some fantastic players and under some world-class managers – 10 or 11 of them – and drew aspects from each and every one. Each season at Chelsea I sensed progress, from playing 10 games to 16, 20 to 34 over a campaign. But the season when it didn’t pan out the way I’d hoped [2013-14] and I lost out on being with England, that made it clear I needed to find somewhere to play consistently.”

I felt I’d made progress this last season, that I’d got to know myself more as a player. Things come more naturally when you’re not in-out, in-out.

Before, every time I was called into the team, it felt like an audition. But if you play more regularly, you get to that stage where you know your game and can make a proper impression, or perhaps try new things. Southampton gave me the platform to perform; the foundations I needed.

Being settled has been massive for me. You get to an age where you need that consistency, not only for yourself but for your family. Previously, every summer I would come back [and ask]: ‘Am I going, am I staying?’ But this has been about raising the levels of my game. I would play occasionally at Chelsea but now I feel part of it properly at Southampton. I feel like a footballer. When the team win and you are playing consistently, you feel good about it. You get a day off the next day and you feel like you deserved it.”

So moving on a year, seeing how much Bertrand has taken to life playing week in, week out in the Premier League I am wondering if Chelsea missed a trick by selling him? Look at what has happened with Filipe Luis for example - masses of money spent and he has failed to impress.

People keep harping on about our Academy and how successful it has been of recent years but we still see nothing at present. I admit in the past on here I personally stated that I felt that Bertrand lacked defensively in his game. Now, a year later and that's a year of Premier League football, we can see that he can more than hold his own. Maybe that's the problem at our club in that they initially feel the same as me but we will never know unless someone like him is given that chance.

What do you people think here about Ryan Bertrand if you look at our squad now. Do you think he SHOULD still be at the club and deserved to be or did we make the right decision in selling him for Luis?

I cannot help but feel that we made a mistake somehow!