Things change quickly in football, but nowhere quicker than at Stamford Bridge.
The Champions League was, and in many ways still is, the Holy Grail for Chelsea, so you’d think winning it for a second time would secure God-like status.
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However, of the 23 players that were named in the matchday squad that downed Manchester City in Porto in 2021, a staggeringly small number still remain.
The match-winning goalscorer on that evening at the Estadio do Dragao, Kai Havertz, may not have lived up to expectations in west London, but he essentially paid his then-club record £72million fee from Bayer Leverkusen with that goal alone.
Now, just two years after winning the ultimate club prize, he’s wearing red.
He’s joined London rivals Arsenal for £65m, and he’s far from the only player saying goodbye this summer.
And the man who assisted theat famous goal, Mason Mount, is also on the move with a £60m move to Manchester United set to be sealed.
To add to that, fellow starters Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante have both left for the Saudi Pro League in recent weeks.
Even captain that night, Cesar Azpilicueta, is closing in on a move to Inter Milan.
Before that, Jorginho had already left for Arsenal, Antonio Rudiger for Real Madrid and Timo Werner went back to RB Leipzig.
That leaves just Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Reece James as the likely only survivors.
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On the bench, things are even more stark, with eight players already gone, and the other four seemingly on their way.
Marcos Alonso and Andreas Christensen now play for Barcelona, while Emerson and Kurt Zouma are at West Ham.
Olivier Giroud joined AC Milan, Billy Gilmour went to Brighton, and Willy Caballero joined him on the south coast by signing for Southampton.
Meanwhile, Mateo Kovacic has joined Man City to help replace Ilkay Gundogan.
Kepa Arrizabalaga could potentially stay under Mauricio Pochettino, but injury-prone Christian Pulisic is surplus to requirements.
New homes are also being searched for to house Hakim Ziyech in Saudi Arabia, while Callum Hudson-Odoi is of little interest after an unsuccessful loan at Bayer Leverkusen.
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All in all, of the 23 players in the matchday squad, 14 are already gone, with another five either unwanted or already on their way.
Ownership change and managerial turnover has clearly provided new priorities at Chelsea, but it’s little wonder the club had their second-worst Premier League season as the training ground revolving door went into overdrive.
Spare a thought for James and Chilwell too, with the pair of full-backs regularly injured, every time they’ve returned to training over the past two years it must have been like a first day at school.
Where are they now?
Starters:
Edouard Mendy – Al Ahli
Cesar Azpilicueta – Inter Milan?
Thiago Silva – Chelsea
Antonio Rudiger – Real Madrid
Reece James – Chelsea
Ben Chilwell – Chelsea
Jorginho – Arsenal
N’Golo Kante – Al Ittihad
Kai Havertz – Arsenal
Mason Mount – Manchester United
Timo Werner – Leipzig
Substitutes:
Kepa Arrizabalaga – Chelsea
Willy Caballero – Southampton
Marcos Alonso – Barcelona
Andreas Christensen – Barcelona
Kurt Zouma – West Ham
Emerson – West Ham
Christian Pulisic – Unwanted
Mateo Kovacic – Manchester City
Callum Hudson-Odoi – Unwanted
Hakim Ziyech – Al Nassr?
Billy Gilmour – Brighton
Olivier Giroud – AC Milan
