Frenchman tops Di Matteo’s exit list

Chelsea have been linked with a number of players this summer as they look to revitalise their squad ahead of another Premier League campaign and will aim to upset the Manchester duopoly, but there’s also plenty of talk about those that are leaving as Roberto Di Matteo will decide which players will make his squad.

Didier Drogba, Saloman Kalou and Jose Bosingwa have already departed the club as their contracts have expired, but who will be the next one out of the door?

After his move to Santos seems to have collapsed, Florent Malouda has joined up with the squad on their US tour but he may be told that he doesn’t feature in Di Matteo’s plans and the manager hinted at this recently, saying:

“Florent is back with us now and I will have a talk with him this week.

“We cannot name more than 25 players in the squad so we will have to make some decisions.

“Pre-season gives me a great opportunity to look at the new players and see how they develop.

“The final decision on who will go and who will stay will be made at the beginning of August.”

(The Sun)

The Frenchman was a bit part player last season and with Eden Hazard, Juan Mata, Marko Marin and potentially Oscar amongst others at the club, he’ll likely play even less than he did in the previous campaign and there’s no point paying someone £70,000-a-week to sit on the bench or the stands for the remaining 12 months of his contract makes little sense.

It’s his wage demands that have stopped him moving on so far and I’m worried that he may be the type of player that will sit on his contract if Chelsea can’t find a buyer and won’t release him as a free agent, which is what he was allegedly hoping for but the Blues wants at least £5 million for him.

Malouda has certainly had his moments in a Chelsea shirt, especially during Carlo Ancelotti’s double winning campaign, but he’s mostly been a frustrating player to watch and I’m anxious to see the back of him as he isn’t offering enough for the money he is on.

He seems to be just the first name on a list of players that may be deemed surplus to requirements, along with the loyal servant that is Paulo Ferreira and the Arsenal loving Judas Yossi Benayoun.

Time for Malouda to pack his bags? Have your say in the comments section below