Three to leave Chelsea and one HUGE loan deal agreed!

The next few days at Chelsea will be interesting. It's believed that three of our first team squad will be sold. Juan Cuadrado, Filipe Luis and Mohamed Salah are all expected to be sold while Patrick Bamford is about to get his chance in the Premier League!

It's clear that for the three players linked with permanent moves away from Stamford Bridge, that their careers at Chelsea just never really seemed to get going. All three have struggled to break into the first team and have had to settle as squad players. When you are talking about combined transfer fee's of approaching £50m that's alot of money for squad players!

I guess that's the gamble the manager takes when he brings them here in the first place. He signs these players to challenge the existing first team players for their starting places and to encourage those players to kick on. Unfortunately, that's exactly what has happened as we have seen the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Willian and Eden Hazard get better and better.

That's what we need though isn't it? We need our existing players to step up their game every year, to become better in their positions to take the team forward, so you could argue that although for Cuadrado, Luis and Salah it never worked out, for the club going forward it's worked wonders.

So what of the three players leaving and what does the future hold of them now?

Juan Cuadrado. 

It takes balls to admit that a signing you have backed quite simply has not worked out in just over six months after signing. Jose Mourinho has virtually revealed that as long as Chelsea receive something close to the £26m figure they paid Fiorentina for him back in the January transfer window, they will be happy to sell him.

For the player himself, it's just never seemed to work out and has turned into the wrong move. Coming from Serie A to the Premier League is a massive step and the difference in the game is huge.

A slower, tactical game, the Italian League is somewhere the Colombian settled into and made a real name for himself. His performances in Serie A and the World Cup caught the eye of plenty of people with Jose Mourinho being one of them.

Unfortunately as we have seen, Cuadrado looks like a fish out of water and I do not mean to be patronising at all as it's just the way it has looked to me.

Having come on as a substitute in I believe it to have been his first appearance for Chelsea late in a game, he received the ball with a defender in front of him and was clattered within seconds and ended up on the floor losing the ball. He never recovered from that moment.

That's the thing here, it's all about the pace of our game and the physicality, you have got to be able to cope with both and if you are unable, you will struggle.

So it looks as though Juventus will be the club that takes him back to Serie A, where he feels comfortable, and would be willing to pay somewhere near what Chelsea paid Fiorentina. It's a deal that suits all parties and I expect Cuadrado to leave before the season starts.

Filipe Luis.

Now in my opinion, this is one signing that frustrates me and seems to be leaving Chelsea with a whimper rather than anything else. All the talk, the money paid for him and nothing apart from an excellent free kick against Derby in the League Cup last season. Luis has disappointed me big time!

It just goes to prove how lucky Chelsea had been with Ashley Cole. He nailed that left-back position down as his own for years and demonstrated that he was one of the worlds best. However, it was only in the final season at the club, he was replaced by Cesar Azpilicueta and that's what I want to highlight here and why Luis has disappointed me.

Azpilicueta came here knowing we had Branislav Ivanovic and Ashley Cole as our starting full backs and accepted the challenge. He got his head down, worked really hard and when he was handed a chance in the first team, he grabbed it with both hands and set his stall out early to be considered ahead of either of them.

Azpilicueta didn't just accept that he would remain a squad player to be happy with a seat on the bench for most weeks, he put himself in front of Jose Mourinho to force himself into his plans and look at him now.

He was given a chance against Arsenal in the League Cup two seasons ago at the Emirates, scored an excellent goal giving a performance at left back that was simply outstanding. In that moment, he made the position his own and Ashley Cole never recovered.

That's what Filipe Luis should have done here but it didn't happen. I look at him on the pitch and yes he has quality but look at the difference in the determination from Azpilicueta in games to Luis, to me he seems laboured and was found out a few times last season.

Jose Mourinho has to feel that he trusts his players 100% and especially in the back four. If there is an element of doubt, you are not playing until you can prove you deserve to be selected ahead of those players in front of you. Azpilicueta has done it and remains.

So, it looks as though Chelsea will take a hit of around £1m and sell Luis back to the club we signed him from Atletico Madrid for £15m. It's another deal that suits all of us.

Mohamed Salah.

What can you say about Salah apart from yet another disappointment!

We all sat and watched his performances against Chelsea in the Champions League and Europa League and thought he would be a star in the Premier League. When he signed it the manager stared he would be a signing for the season just gone but Salah found himself out on loan in Italy where he restored his reputation.

With his lightening pace, he is always going to be a threat anywhere he plays and the slower game in Italy proved to be something close to what he had been used to at Basel.

As with the other two, I have to question if he has done enough, if he was up for the fight and if he put himself in front of Jose Mourinho to force his hand?

Granted, as I stated previously, the likes of Eden Hazard and Willian have all stepped up their game to another level and have left Salah behind. With Andre Schurrle being sold last season, you would have thought he would come back and be given a chance here again but the manager has revealed he will NOT be part of our plans and Chelsea will look to sell him or loan him again.

It's strange isn't it but something must have happened for Mourinho to change his mind. We don't see what happens behind closed doors in training every day but I guess Salah never made the right impression.

You have to work hard at Chelsea these days to force your way into the first team and then work even harder to stay there. It's seems that never happened with Salah.

Expect a deal to move to Serie A to happen before the season starts. In fact, a move could be on the cards within days after Jose's comments recently.

Patrick Bamford gets his Premier League chance!

It's my opinion that Patrick Bamford was ALWAYS going to be given a chance to play Premier League football on loan this season. He has proven himself in League One and for a couple of season in the Championship (winning the Championship Player of the Year last season) and if Middlesborough had been promoted, he would have stayed there this season.

Bamford made it clear that his dream was to play for Chelsea and felt as though at this stage of his career and his development, that he needed regular first team football which is fair enough. As soon as he stated that, it became clear that a loan deal would be agreed for another season as it's one thing doing it week in, week out in League One and the Championship, but another in the Premier League.

For Chelsea, giving him a chance in the Premier League with someone else suits them. They get to monitor his progress, his development and they get to see how he copes with the demands of the best league in the world.

The move he is making is for a season working with Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace and I personally believe it's an excellent move for all concerned.

As we have seen with plenty of strikers in this league, you either go all in as you would at Crystal Palace's new sponsors casino.com or you could fade away and struggle to make a name for yourself. I cannot see Bamford struggling in the Premier League because of his raw talent.

Pardew is a man's manager, he is old school and isn't afraid of throwing players into games if he believes they are good enough no matter how old they are. With the likes of Bolasie and Saha down the wings, Bamford will be given every opportunity to score goals at Palace and with his goalscoring ability couple with that strikers instinct he has, he WILL score plenty.

All eyes will be on Bamford this season and expect that deal to be confirmed shortly.

Conclusion.

What do you people think of the three players due to leave the club before the start of the season and what has happened to their Chelsea careers?

Do you agree with my opinion or have one of your own? I would love to read it in the comments below.

What of Patrick Bamford and a move to Crystal Palace? Do you think it's a good one?