Chelsea's 'wheeler-dealer model will take time to get used to'

Cesare Casadei, Carney Chukwuemeka, Renato Veiga and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall have three pertinent things in common: they all signed for Chelsea in the past two-and-a-half years, they have all been linked with moves away from the club this month, and they have all started fewer than five Premier League games for the Blues.

Veiga has one start, Chukwuemeka four; Dewsbury-Hall and Casadei none between them.

None of them can say they have had anything approaching a fair shot at showing what they can do. Yet putting them up for sale will not be seen as an admission of failure by the sporting directors. They are not being sold because they are bad - not necessarily, at least. They are being sold because there is a chance to make money by selling them, or to save money and raise their value by loaning them out.

This is the new reality that Chelsea fans have to get used to. They are no longer an institution built to win at any cost. They are still looking to win - but also keep a very firm eye on the cost.

The 'player trading' model the club has adopted is all fun and games when you are signing the South American teenagers; but it does not feel quite as glamorous when you are shuffling mediocre full-backs around every six months to scrape a sub-£10m profit.

It is important for clubs to try and spend sustainably, but the slightly grubby wheeler-dealing of trading players as 'assets' is something that will take some time for supporters to embrace.

This model also creates an atmosphere of uncertainty in the dressing room. If everyone outside the starting XI feels like they are just one profit and sustainability rules payment or one offer away from being shipped off to Dortmund or Atletico Madrid, can you forge the sort of chemistry and team spirit needed to win the biggest prizes?

Find more from Will Faulks at Chelsea News