High hopes, loans and pre-season pressure: What the future holds for Chelsea’s forgotten signings

Big decisions ahead for Chelsea after January signings fail to spark ailing squad
Nizaar Kinsella5 May 2023

One of the consequences of the chaos at Chelsea has been the number of players left in limbo.

The bloated size of the Chelsea squad means several disappointed big-money signings have hardly been seen in recent months.

Here, Standard Sport looks at what is going with some of the forgotten men at Stamford Bridge and what the future holds for them.

The signing of another winger in January, shortly after Chelsea had paid £88.5million for Mykhailo Mudryk, was greeted by surprise within the game and Madueke has been a victim of the sheer number of forward players at Stamford Bridge.

He has had to make do with a fringe role but was handed his first start in over two months against Arsenal on Tuesday and was the one positive on an otherwise dismal night.

Signed for £29m from PSV, Madueke was given a seven-and-a-half year contract and is expected to stay next season while other wide players like Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic are sold.

Another player signed on a seven-and-a-half-year contract in January, Badiashile made an encouraging start to his Chelsea career following his £35m move from Monaco.

But the centre-back was left out of their Champions League squad and has been out in the cold since Lampard took over as caretaker manager.

In recent weeks, Badiashile has found himself behind Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana in the pecking order.

Chelsea are set to recall Levi Colwill from his loan at Brighton and he boasts a similar profile to Badiashile, who is a France international and will expect more regular action next season.

The pre-season tour of America could be key to impressing the new head coach.

After he had just starred for England in their Under-19 European Championship triumph last summer, there was real excitement when Chukwuemeka joined for £20m from Aston Villa.

The midfielder has made just one start and played 223 minutes of first-team football.

Chukwuemeka is a player England have high hopes for and it was claimed he left Villa because he could not see a pathway to the first-team, which made his decision to join Chelsea a curious one.

There was always going to be a period of adjustment at Chelsea but his career has stagnated and he is likely to look to go out on loan next season.

The £10m January arrival from Molde was always considered a signing for the future and he has played just 105 minutes.

In his only Chelsea start, he was substituted at half-time following an ineffective display against Southampton on February 15 and has not been seen in a matchday squad since.

With Chelsea looking to sign another striker and Armando Broja set to return from injury next season, Fofana is likely to go out on loan this summer.

Mykhailo Mudryk

Big things were expected from Mudryk when Chelsea signed him from under the noses of Arsenal, but he has endured a disappointing start to his career in England.

He has made just six starts and been named on the bench in the other 12 games he has been available for.

Collateral damage of a dysfunctional season, Mudryk is still seen a key player at the heart of the Chelsea project and is expected to play a prominent role next season.

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