3 former Chelsea players who are yet to find their form this season (2023-24)
Chelsea had an extremely busy 2023 summer transfer window. Under the new administration, they splashed the cash, signing a lot of young talented stars in the process. It was a complete rebuild and with these new signings, it was certain that some players were no longer going to be guaranteed regular playing time.
As such, a lot of players were sold. Even those who were once considered key were not spared and were sold. The most notable example being homegrown talent Mason Mount, who joined rivals Manchester United.
This action divided the fans, as many of them wondered if the club were making a mistake by letting some of their key players join league rivals. But some players haven't really got going at their new clubs and raising the question whether the Blues were right in the first place to sell them.
Without any further ado, let’s take a look at three former Chelsea players who are yet to find their spark in their new clubs.
#3 Mateo Kovacic
Mateo Kovacic spent five seasons at Chelsea. He had joined the club from Real Madrid in 2018 and gradually established himself as one of the key players in the midfield.
Kovacic played 221 games across competitions, scoring six goals, giving 15 assists and winning four trophies. He notably won both the Champions League and Europa League with the club. Last summer, Kovacic was sold to Manchester City for £25 million as part of the overhaul.
The Croatian has played 10 games for Manchester City across all competitions and started nine of them. He is already familiar with the league and many expected that Kovacic would have hit the ground running by now, but unfortunately, that has not been the case yet.
The central midfielder hasn't been able to influence games as he did at Chelsea and the Cityzens have already lost two of their nine games played. They lost two consecutive games for the first time since 2018 and are already five points off the top of the table.
#2 Mason Mount
Mason Mount is another top talent who was shown the exit door at Chelsea this summer. He joined the club at a very young age and had worked his way up. Though it took him a while before he finally broke into the first team, Mount was a brillliant player for Chelsea. He played a total of 195 games, scored 33 goals and registered 37 assists and assisted the winner in the 2021 triumphant Champions League final.
The Englishman was surprisingly sold to fellow Premier League club Manchester United, who splashed £55 million to secure his signing. The club wasn’t just playing around. Following his arrival, Mount was given the iconic no. 7 jersey which was worn by several legends of the club, including Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, Mount seems to be burdened by expectations of donning the iconic jersey at United as he is yet to score a goal for the club after playing seven games across competitions. He has one assist to his name but it is definitely not the level of performance fans expected from him.
#1 Kai Havertz
Back in 2019, Kai Havertz was playing for Bayer Leverkusen and tearing the Bundesliga apart with his impressive performances. His performances caught the attention of Chelsea, who then spent £75.8 million to secure his signing.
Havertz had a slow start to life at Chelsea. He went on to play 139 games across competitions and score 32 goals and give 15 assists. His time at the club can be described as fair if compared to his performance for Bayer Leverkusen. His only highlight was scoring the solo winner in the 2021 Champions League final.
But despite this, Arsenal still went for Havertz in the summer. He didn’t come cheap at all, they had to cough out £65 million before they finalized the deal. Sadly, there hasn’t been any much progress to this effect so far. He is struggling to have an impact and generally, he is still playing like the same old Havertz from Chelsea.
Even after playing 14 games so far this season, he scored only a single goal and registered just one assist. Time will tell if he will start firing for the Gunners and show his true potential once again.