After Tottenham put the nail in Chelsea’s Champions League coffin on Sunday, reports today suggest that the Blues could be set to lose up to nine first team players.
The defeat at Stamford Bridge on Sunday leaves Chelsea eight points behind Spurs from just seven Premier League games, an almost impossible mountain to climb.
I wrote an article earlier this week suggesting that the defeat to Spurs could have a number of ramifications for the Blues, one of which was losing a number of key players due to the lack of Champions League football at the Bridge next year, and this is a view now backed up by The Telegraph.
They claim that up to nine players could head towards the exit doors, with Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard the most high profile potential departees.
Courtois has just one year left on his current deal at the club and has been linked with a move to Real Madrid. The Spanish side’s interest could be strengthened with the news that David de Gea is set to sign a new deal at Manchester United.
Hazard meanwhile is also a target for Real Madrid, and while he has two years left on his deal at Chelsea, the lack of Champions League Football once again is hardly likely to make him want to sign a new one.
Meanwhile, the report claims that Cesc Fabregas, Pedro, Gary Cahill, Olivier Giroud and David Luiz also face uncertain futures due to the fact they will all have just one year remaining on their current deals, with Chelsea only ever offering a one year extension to players over 30.
They also say that the futures of Michy Batshuayi and Kurt Zouma, who are currently out on loan, are also uncertain.