Chelsea were unable to sign anybody last summer due to their transfer ban – but they still sold and released plenty of players in 2019.
Frank Lampard placed his faith in Chelsea’s young players in 2019-20, but what has come of the players who decided to leave or were deemed surplus to requirements?
After looking at the academy graduates who were released by the club in 2019, we’ve now taken a look at the first-team players who were sold or released to see how they’ve fared this past season
Eden Hazard
Hazard left Stamford Bridge after seven hugely successful years at the club, joining Real Madrid in an £89million deal in 2019.
The Belgium international has failed to replicate his Chelsea form in Spain, however, with injury problems restricting him to just 16 La Liga appearances in 2019-20.
“We have won the title collectively this year, considering it has certainly been the worst season of my career individually,” Hazard told Franceinfo in July.
READ: Comparing Christian Pulisic’s debut season at Chelsea to Eden Hazard’s
Kylian Hazard
While Eden Hazard became a legend at Chelsea, his younger brother Kylian failed to make a single first-team appearance for the Blues.
After spending 2018-19 on loan to Cercle Brugge, he joined the Belgian outfit on a permanent deal at the end of the season.
The 25-year-old has become a first-team regular but managed just one goal in 27 Jupiler Pro League appearances in 2019-20.
David Luiz
Luiz made the surprise move to Arsenal in 2019 and has endured a mixed season at Emirates Stadium.
The erratic defender continued to make costly mistakes throughout 2019-20, but he also played an integral role in Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph.
READ: Comparing Arsenal’s record with and without David Luiz in the starting XI
Ola Aina
Aina came through the youth ranks at Chelsea and made six first-team appearances under Antonio Conte in 2016-17.
After a successful loan spell at Torino, the Serie A outfit triggered the option to sign him permanently for £8.9million in 2019.
But the 23-year-old has struggled to recapture his form from his original spell and has been linked with a return to the Premier League.
Jay Dasilva
Dasilva spent the 2018-19 season on loan at Bristol City, impressing enough for the Championship club to sign him permanently in 2019
He fractured his leg in a training session after the first game of the 2019-20 season.
Victorien Angban
Angban spent the 2018-19 season on loan at Metz and then joined the French side on a permanent deal following their promotion to Ligue 1.
The midfielder made 20 league appearances in 2019-20, helping his side narrowly avoid relegation back to Ligue 2.
Tomas Kalas
Kalas had six temporary spells away from Stamford Bridge before finally cutting all ties with the club in 2019, joining Bristol City for £8million.
The centre-back had an injury-hit campaign in 2019-20, making just 23 appearances in the Championship while contributing to three clean sheets.
Chelsea’s longest-serving player, Tomas Kalas, has left the club after nine years.
He only played four games—one of them was the famous ‘slip’ game win over Liverpool in 2014 🔵 pic.twitter.com/xVXzrEpaFT
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 1, 2019
Daishawn Redan
Redan spent two years in Chelsea’s academy but failed to make a senior appearance and moved to Germany with Hertha Berlin in 2019.
The Dutch forward made his Bundesliga debut as a substitute in August 2019 when he replaced another former Chelsea player in Salomon Kalou.
He is yet to make another appearance for the club and spent the second half of the season on loan at Eredivisie side FC Groningen.
Kasey Palmer
After four separate loan moves away from Stamford Bridge, Palmer wanted a permanent home and joined Bristol City in a £3.5million deal in 2019.
“It was kind of like I needed something new, I didn’t really see progress at Chelsea at that time,” Palmer told Darnell Simpson’s YouTube channel in May 2020.
“The age I was at, it was the time to move on, there was that feeling that it was time to take the next step. I knew within myself that I wasn’t going to break through at Chelsea this season.
“The stage I was at, it wasn’t the right thing to go on another loan, it was becoming loan after loan after loan.”
The 23-year-old featured in 27 games in all competitions 2019-20, although most of his appearances came from the bench.
Kenneth Omeruo
Despite playing in two World Cups during his time at Chelsea, Omeruo never actually made a first-team appearance for the Blues.
The Nigeria international spent six years out on loan and finally made a permanent switch to Leganes for around £4.5million last summer.
He made 23 La Liga appearances in 2019-20 but couldn’t prevent their relegation to the Segunda Division.
Eduardo
Eduardo was released by Chelsea at the end of the 2018-19 season and returned to former club Braga on a two-year deal.
The goalkeeper made nine appearances in all competitions in 2019-20 before announcing his retirement at the age of 37.
Gary Cahill
Cahill made just two Premier League appearances for Chelsea in 2018-19 and joined Crystal Palace in search of regular first-team football.
The 34-year-old was a virtual ever-present at the heart of their defence, making 27 appearances for the Eagles in 2019-20.
“For me it was too big a gift to let pass us by in a way when Gary became free and – due to the relationship Ray (Lewington) and I have with him, from working with England – we were able to persuade him to come and join us,” Palace manager Roy Hodgson said in March 2020.
“He hasn’t lost anything physical in terms of pace, mobility, aggression or technique – that has all stayed with him.”
🚫 GARY CAHILL 🚫#CPFC pic.twitter.com/LEEtgk9fDw
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) December 7, 2019
Marcin Bulka
Bulka spent three years in Chelsea’s academy before deciding to join Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.
He is their third-choice goalkeeper behind Keylor Navas and Sergio Rico and made just one first-team appearance in 2019-20.
Renedi Masampu
Masampu has been without a club since leaving non-league side Whyteleafe FC in September 2019.
Joseph Colley
Colley rejected the offer of a new contract at Chelsea and joined Serie B side Chievo on a free transfer in 2019.
The centre-back is yet to make his first-team debut but has been a regular for their Under-19s.
Michael Hector
Another serial loanee, Hector joined Chelsea in 2015 and had temporary spells at Reading, Eintracht Frankfurt, Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday.
The 28-year-old joined Fulham on a permanent deal in January 2020 and played an integral role in their promotion back to the Premier League.
UNBELIEVABLE DEFENDING 👏
Michael Hector somehow keeps Fulham on level terms in South Wales
📺 Watch Cardiff v Fulham now live on Sky Sports Football pic.twitter.com/Y63RAUcSog
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) July 27, 2020
Clinton Mola
Mola came through the Chelsea academy but joined German second division side Stuttgart in January 2020 without making a professional appearance.
He made his professional debut in a DFB-Pokal match against Bayer Leverkusen and helped the club earn automatic promotion to the top flight.
“I am definitely grateful for what Chelsea did for me,” Mola told Goal in March 2020. “It was a hard decision but I just thought if I was to really excel in my career, then it is best for me to move on.
“I can maybe come back to England in the future and I am grateful to Chelsea as they matured me as a person, I made great friends there and I am close with the staff as well.
“When I saw the opportunity to move abroad and to come to Germany I thought why not take it and see where it gets me. They are a big club with a big history.”
Tariq Lamptey
Lamptey was highly regarded at Chelsea, but Frank Lampard couldn’t convince the defender to stay at Stamford Bridge.
The 19-year-old refused to sign a new contract and completed a permanent move to Brighton, making eight Premier League appearances for the Seagulls in the second half of the season.
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