Eight Chelsea players may have played their final game in Newcastle draw

Frank Lampard reviews Chelsea's draw with Newcastle

Chelsea drew the curtains on their dismal 2022-23 Premier League season with a draw against Newcastle on Sunday. The Blues concluded the campaign with just 44 points from 38 games, their lowest total since 1987-88 when they were relegated from the top flight.

Their 1-1 draw condemned the Blues to a 12th-placed finish and meant Frank Lampard’s interim spell ended with just one win in 11 games across all competitions. In the league Chelsea sunk a gigantic 27 points behind the Champions League spots and were even 17 off qualifying for the Europa Conference League.

Despite the disappointment of a grim season, club legend Lampard was still given a fond farewell from the Stamford Bridge faithful. And he was not the only one who said his goodbyes to Chelsea at the weekend, with as many as eight players who were in the match-day squad set to move on.

Five of Lampard’s starters – goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, defender and captain Cesar Azpilicueta, midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Conor Gallagher and forward Kai Havertz – may depart this summer. Loftus-Cheek is poised to join AC Milan while Gallagher is being looked at by multiple Premier League clubs including Liverpool.

Azpilicueta, 33 but turning 34 in August, may yet see out the final year of his contract. But Kepa and Havertz – who joined in 2018 and 2020 respectively – are both tipped to exit. Three substitutes against Newcastle – midfielder Mateo Kovacic, forward Christian Pulisic and the on-loan Joao Felix – may also leave before next season.

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Kovacic has just a year left on his contract and is attracting interest from Manchester City and Manchester United among others. Injury has wrecked Pulisic’s time at the Bridge and the American may now move overseas.

While Chelsea would like to keep Felix, doing so is surely dependent on Atletico Madrid agreeing another loan deal. Trying to sign the attacker permanently would likely mean Todd Boehly and co. needing to pay out close to £100million for the Portuguese player.

Those eight weren’t the only ones who seemed to be saying goodbye post-match on the end of season lap of honour. The injured Mason Mount appeared somewhat emotional with a move to Man United looking likely this summer, with Liverpool and Arsenal other rival suitors.

Among the others who could depart in the offseason include unused substitutes Edouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech, as well as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kalidou Koulibaly. Denis Zakaria, who spent the campaign with the Londoners on loan from Juventus, is not expected to return on a permanent basis.

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New Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino – who has signed a three-year deal to replace Lampard at the helm – has major surgery to do on a bloated squad this summer. The Argentine has already got some fresh faces to welcome to the club including RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku.

Nkunku finished as the Bundesliga’s joint top goalscorer for the season while January additions Andrey Santos and Malo Gusto will also link up with their new team for pre-season. Levi Colwill spent the season on loan at Brighton and is also likely to be heavily involved next term, as could be Italian midfielder Cesare Casadei.

But Pochettino and Boehly need to trim down the squad and balance the books with Chelsea having spent over £600m on new signings in the last 12 months. Players who spent the year out on loan – namely Romelu Lukaku and Callum Hudson-Odoi – should be among the exodus.

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