3 Chelsea Outcasts Who Became A Superhit Elsewhere – Featuring 2 Merseyside Stars

Chelsea have a history of signing youngsters who show great promise and then loaning them out to other clubs to help build experience. However, not many players make the step up despite possessing the talents to make it big and end up leaving the club, whereas some do not have the mettle to shine in the big stage. And then there are a few who do make it to the first team picture but struggle to get regular playing time due to which they part ways with the club.

Here we look at three such players, who joined Chelsea with great promise but ended up moving away from the club and then went on to become huge stars:

1. Kevin De Bruyne

Kevin De Bruyne was a talented youngster when Chelsea brought him into the fold in recent times. The Belgian joined Chelsea in January 2012 from Belgian side Genk, but continued at the same club till the end of the season. De Bruyne then went on another loan spell to German club Werder Bremen for an entire season in 2012-13. De Bruyne enjoyed a largely successful season with the German team, where he scored 10 times and assisted 9 goals in 32 Bundesliga appearances.

Following the loan spell, he returned to Chelsea to play for the Blues first team, but he wasn’t afforded the playing time he sought under Jose Mourinho and eventually ended up leaving in January 2014 to join German team Wolfsburg. The then 23-year old had a decent half season with Wolfsburg, scoring three times and assisting 6 more strikes. However, he took the game to another level in 2014-15, taking the Bundesliga by storm as he finished with 10 goals and a whopping 20 assists in 34 appearances.

His prolific form earned him a big money move back to the Premier League where he joined Manchester City where he has developed into one of the finest attacking players in the game. He enjoyed a stellar first season scoring 7 and assisting 9 goals in the Premier League and has continued in the same vein of form this term as well having already matched his assists tally from last season and scored twice. De Bruyne has developed into a key player for City and Chelsea would definitely be ruing their decision to sell the Belgian.

2. Daniel Sturridge

Daniel Sturridge was one of the brightest young prospects in English football in the late 2000’s and that is why Chelsea immediately moved to sign him when his contract with Manchester City expired. But things didn’t work out too well for the striker in London, as he found regular playing time hard to come by due to the presence Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Fernando Torres ahead of him in the pecking order. Despite the regular strikers struggling for form, Sturridge was overlooked constantly and when he did get a chance, it was in the wide roles, where he struggled to have the desired impact.

After struggling to make it at Stamford Bridge due to a lack of opportunities, Sturridge joined rivals Liverpool in January 2013. And he hit the ground running at Anfield, scoring on his club debut, his Premier League debut and his home debut. In fact, Sturridge developed into one of the most prolific strikers in the Premier League alongside Luis Suarez as indicated by his 58 goals in 105 games for The Reds.

The Englishman was the key for Liverpool in the 2013-14 season under Brendan Rodgers where they came so close to winning the title, finishing the season with 21 strikes in just 29 matches, second highest in the Premier League. However, injuries have hampered him in the subsequent seasons, which has seen him score only 13 times in the league since that season, but there is no doubt over his quality and if he manages to stay fit for a longer run, Liverpool will benefit hugely.

3. Romelu Lukaku

Another Belgian signed in the summer of 2011, Romelu Lukaku came to Chelsea as an 18-year old promising striker who had scored 20 goals in the previous season for his former club Anderlecht. However, he spent most of his debut season playing for the Chelsea Reserves and made only 12 appearances for the senior team without scoring.

Lukaku expressed his displeasure on not getting enough playing time for the first team, and hence moved to West Bromwich Albion on loan for the subsequent season. And he showcased his true potential in his loan spell with the Baggies scoring a whopping 17 goals in 35 Premier League appearances, that included a perfect hat-trick in the final game of the Premier League against Manchester United. The match that eventually ended 5-5 turned out to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s last game in charge of the Manchester club. Lukaku had managed to outscore all of the Chelsea strikers that season and was tipped to become the star man for the Blues in the next season.

However, it was not to be for the Belgian next term as well, as he joined Everton on loan for the 2013-14 season, where he finished with 16 goals in 33 appearances in all competitions, leading Everton to a fifth-place finish in the league. The Belgian moved to the Toffees permanently the next season and has developed into one of the most explosive strikers in English football in the recent years, having scored 55 goals in 112 appearances for the Merseysiders since 2014, ten of which have come in the current season. Chelsea have expressed an interest in signing Lukaku back showing that they might have made a misjudgement in selling the 23-year old.