Chelsea's unwanted players thriving elsewhere, from Ian Maatsen in the Champions League final to Golden Boot hopefuls

By premiernews On May 31, 2024

As Chelsea continue to perform poorly in the Premier League, the success of several of their former players is really rubbing salt in the wound.

Several formerChelsea The players seem to have blown away the cobwebs since leaving the London club.

Chelsea have produced some successful players, but many of them are no longer at the club.Credit: Getty

Now they are having success in the Champions LeagueSerie A and first division.

Here, talkSPORT.com looks at some of the players who certainly aren't feeling blue since leaving the club.

Ian Maatsen

When Chelsea loaned the Dutch international Ian Maatsen To Borussia Dortmund in January 2024, they probably didn't expect him to be so useful in the German team's European campaign.

Maatsen played every minute of Dortmund's clinical Champions League semi-final victory over PSG; in fact, those games took his total appearances for the club to 20 this season.

Despite being at Chelsea since 2019, Maatsen never really earned his manager's trust and only made 15 appearances as he was loaned out to Charlton, Coventry and Burnley.

After the youngster has proven himself on foreign lands, new coach Enzo Maresca could decide he can trust the 22-year-old. even if your national boss can't do it.

Tino Livramento

Maatsen helped the German giants reach the Champions League finalCredit: Getty

Livramento's youth potential never materialized at ChelseaCredit: Getty

But Newcastle have trusted the youngster moreCredit: Getty

Livramento, a product of Chelsea's youth system who was even named academy player of the year for the 2020-21 season, never came off the Blues bench.

He eventually moved to Southampton in 2021, and most recently signed with Newcaste in 2023.

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The winger has performed much better for both clubs, despite the ACL injury that kept him out of the Saints lineup for more than a year.

Livramento was part of the Newcastle team that sealed qualification for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years, a feat that Chelsea could not match.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

After 19 years as a blue, Loftus-Cheek said goodbye to the London club in 2023.

He scored just one goal for Chelsea between 2021 and 2023 and has since admitted that he was unhappy with the playing time he was getting.

“At Chelsea I felt like a caged animal, I didn't play as much as I wanted to and when it happened I played in positions where I couldn't express myself,” Loftus-Cheek told Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this season. .

But the 28-year-old has had no such problems since moving to AC Milan, where he scored ten goals in his first 40 games for the club and there are no signs of slowing down any time soon.

Wearing the number 8, he is in good company following in the footsteps of, among others, Gennaro Gattuso, Carlo Ancelotti and even Chelsea favorite Ray Wilkins.

Dominic Solanke

Loftus-Cheek spent his entire career with Chelsea, rising through the academy before heading to Milan in 2023.Credit: Rex

Solanke flies on the south coast where his goals have been decisive for BournemouthCredit: Getty

Another Chelsea youth product, Dominic Solanke, signed for Liverpool upon the expiry of his Chelsea contract in 2017, having been their third striker for some time.

But it was at Bournemouth, a club he joined two years later, where he really shined.

Despite enduring relegation to the Championship with them in his first season, he eventually helped them return to the Premier League in 2022, being top scorer with 29 goals.

He fought hard for the Golden Boot and finished with 19 goals. Only Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak scored more goals in the Premier League this season, an even more impressive statistic given Bournemouth finished in 12th place.

Christian Pulisic

Christian PulisicMichael's final seasons at Chelsea certainly ended with a bit of a whimper – the American striker only scored once in his final season with the Blues.

Following his transfer to AC Milan in 2023, he said: “For me it is a brilliant opportunity to move away, start again and play in a great team like this.”

And it certainly has been a new beginning.

Pulisic had difficult times during his four years at ChelseaCredit: Getty

He seems much happier and more settled in Italy.Credit: Getty

He scored 13 goals in appearances in his first season with the club and broke his career-high league season goals record after scoring his tenth goal in a Serie A match against Lecce.

After a year, he is already halfway to equaling the goal total he accumulated at Chelsea in four seasons.

To see if Maatsen finishes the season as European champion, tune in to talkSPORT for the champions league final on June 1 from 8 p.m.

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