Last summer Chelsea completed the permanent exits for Lewis Hall, Conor Gallagher, and Ian Maatsen. All three came through the club's academy, played first team football, and have since been in the Champions League.
Hall was not there to help Newcastle United achieve qualification for the competition for the first time in over 20 years but joined on loan for the season with an obligation to buy. He only made one appearance and was left unused on the bench for the rest of the group stage as Newcastle crashed out at the first hurdle.
Maatsen, likewise, was not around to help Aston Villa in their quest towards a top four finish in 2023/24 but did reach the final with Borussia Dortmund on loan last season. He struggled in the final but showed enough to convince Villa to spend upwards of £37million on him.
Now a quarter-finalist, Maatsen is preparing for games home and away against Paris Saint-Germain later this month. He has played in all but two of the European matches so far this season and scored in the 3-0 second-leg win over Club Brugge in mid-March.
Maatsen has been a substitute more often than not for Villa this season but is still experiencing football in the big time. He made his international debut for the Netherlands in the Nations League quarter-finals over the international break.
Then there is Gallagher. He had played in the Champions League before for Chelsea during the 2022/23 campaign but was part of the team that failed to secure qualification via the Premier League under Mauricio Pochettino last year.
When he joined Atletico Madrid he immediately went to one of the tournament favourites for a place in the knockout stages. Madrid have pedigree on this stage and Gallagher was called on in the second leg against Real, scoring within a minute to level the tie. Diego Simeoene's side went out on penalties.
Between the trio, Chelsea banked just over £100million. These figures - which count as 'pure profit' in the accounts as no transfer fee was paid to sign them initially - were key to helping Chelsea overall profits of £128million during the 2023/24 period. Chelsea's other way of making money to continue compliance with Premier League financial regulations was to 'reposition' the women's team (effectively selling it to themselves).
The trend here is of players departing under the Clearlake Capital-Todd Boehly ownership and having success elsewhere. Hall, Gallagher, and Maatsen all took a step up into Champions League football and now there is an argument to say that they will all be in a higher level of European competition than Chelsea next season as well.
Atletico are almost certain to be in the Champions League, although their title challenge has tailed off. Newcastle are in pole position to kick on in the Premier League after lifting the Carabao Cup at Wembley, whilst Villa are still in the race.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are looking over their shoulder nervously. Newcastle could leapfrog them into fourth with a victory in their game in hand - although Chelsea could still end the week ahead if they beat Tottenham on Thursday, albeit they will have then played a match extra.
Eddie Howe's side are only two points behind Chelsea currently but have an easier run-in. The two teams meet at St James' Park with three games to go.
Then there is Villa. They are further back in ninth but are only four from Chelsea. The race for a top five place is very much on and both Villa and Newcastle will fancy their chances of overtaking Chelsea before the end of May.
One team and one player already in the clear is Nottingham Forest and Callum Hudson-Odoi. He was sold for just £5million in 2023 after a disappointing loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen. All parties agreed it was time to end things.
(Image: AP)
"I got the opportunities at Chelsea and played a lot of games," he said earlier this season. "But I got to the point where I had to look at it and realise it had been nice, but it was time to go. It was a big decision but the right one.
"You have to recognize when it is the right time to move on. And that was my time. [It was] A case of needing to get out of there — not in a bad way — but to go and find my football again and enjoy myself again."
Chelsea chose to clear his large wages from the books for a minimal price with the then-22-year-old. He had 12 months left on his contract.
Since departing, Hudson-Odoi has scored 13 Premier League goals. Only Nicolas Jackson and Cole Palmer have more for Chelsea in the meantime. Noni Madueke has 12.
Hudson-Odoi's form has really improved under Nuno Espirito Santo, though, and he is now a regular in Forest's team. They are in control of a top five space and have remained consistent where others have faltered. The gap to Newcastle and Brighton ahead of Tuesday night's clash with Manchester United was seven points.
If Forest were to qualify for the Champions League then it would see Hudson-Odoi return, potentially before Chelsea. Speaking about the prospect of achieving such a feat, he said last month: “We know where we are. It’s important to understand that. But we don’t like to talk about it. It’s just game by game.
"You don’t have to discuss where we are because it gets your head excited and we’d be: ‘Oh my gosh, we’re there - we’re finally going to do it.’ I think it’s better we can see where we are at the end of the season. The problem is, we don’t want to distract ourselves too much.
“It's not done. Nowhere near done. We're excited where we are. We're buzzing to be where we are. But at the same time, we've got to look at the next game now, which is Ipswich, and go for that again and keep pushing until the end of the season.”
The same can be said for Diego Moreira. There is less hype for him given Moreira largely failed to make too much of an impact in the Chelsea academy before joining Lyon on loan. However, since making his move to Strasbourg in a permanent deal for £2million, Moreira has had a new lease of life.
He is now an attacking full-back at times rather than always being a left-winger, as Chelsea signed him from Benfica. Under Liam Rosenior, Moreira has been part of the best defence in Europe since December. The BlueCo-owned side have only conceded eight times in that period and have lost just the once.
Strasbourg have the second-best points tally for that run as well and are only three points off Marseille in third. That would be a Champions League spot, whilst they are one point off fourth and fifth which would also be qualification for Europe.
There aren't are many who would argue Chelsea were too hasty to sell Moreira. He arrived on a free and left after two years for a tiny profit.
It could be yet another player leaving to go onto better things, though, which would add to the possible embarrassment. Ultimately, Chelsea know that they can put a stop this conversation by getting back to that level themselves.
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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