6 Chelsea 'flops' who have gone on to do well elsewhere

Stamford Bridge has been home to some great players over the years. Many of those arriving for huge money, the likes of Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba and Diego Costa. But Chelsea have also had their fair share of transfer horror shows too. Partially selling players they deemed not good enough only for them to go on and become top players.

All of these players didn't have their chance at Chelsea, only to move on and shine elsewhere, with the majority being at Premier League rivals. These are the most high profile names that have left Chelsea blue faced in the last few years.

#6 Filipe Luís

The Brazilian left-back was one of the world's best prior to his move to Chelsea. Fresh off winning the La Liga and making it to the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid, Luís seemed primed to be a very smart buy by Jose Mourinho. But after just a year in England Luís was back in the Spanish capital.

It was a weird year at Chelsea for Luís. Unable to overtake the favoured César Azpilicueta, Luís started just 9 games in the league. Since leaving, Luís has continued to be one of the best left-backs around as Atletico Madrid made it to another Champions League final. Luís also featured in the La Liga team of the year in 2016-17.

Although Chelsea haven't been in dire need of a left-back it never hurts to have one of the worlds best in your side and before and after his time at Chelsea he has proven he should have featured much more for the Blues. He continues to be solid both in attack and defence by keeping his place in one of Europe's best back lines.

#5 Juan Cuadrado

After an excellent World Cup in 2014, it took Juan Cuadrado half a season to get his big money move. Chelsea beat the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona for the Colombian's signature in January 2015.

The deal saw Mohamed Salah go the other way on loan and Fiorentina pocketing £23.3 million. But Cuadrado spent just half a season at Chelsea making only 13 league appearance before being shipped out on loan to Juventus for 2 seasons and this past summer, the deal was made permanent.

In his 2 seasons in Turin so far, Cuadrado has won the league and cup double in both seasons and has played in a Champions League final. He has proved to be a versatile player, playing both on the wings and at wingback. He has speed, skill and directness, attributes that would have suited the Premier Leauge very well.

Last season he could have fit in Chelsea's 3-4-3 very well. Willian has had a very poor so far this season, while Victor Moses has struggled with injuries, so if Cuadrado was still at Chelsea he would have fit into the team perfectly. At Juventus, the Columbian is an integral part of a side that continues to win trophies for fun, a far cry from his days on the Chelsea bench.

#4 Daniel Sturridge

They may not be thinking this now, but not too long ago the site of Daniel Sturridge doing his dance as he nearly led Liverpool to the league title must have made Chelsea fans sick to their stomach. A £12 million signing by Liverpool in January 2013, Sturridge was looking for a fresh start in his career.

He was an instant hit at Liverpool scoring 10 goals in the second half of the season at the club and 21 the following season as he finished as the league's 2nd highest goal-getter, just behind teammate Luis Suárez, who he formed a formidable partnership with. That season, Chelsea may have been just one lethal striker away from winning the league and unknowingly had one in their ranks just a year previous.

Chelsea will obviously not take him now, but there is no doubt that when he was terrorising defences for fun and Chelsea had Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto'o and Demba Ba as their options. Compared to Sturridge's 21 league goals that season, Torres, Eto'o and Ba scored a combined 19 between them, Torres with 5, Eto'o scored 9 and Ba scored 5.

#3 Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea v Indonesia All-Stars — Lukaku celebrates a goal for Chelsea

Selling Romelu Lukaku is definitely something Chelsea regret. After two fantastic loan spells at West Brom and Everton where Lukaku scored 17 and 15 goals respectively, many thought it was finally time for him to stake his claim as Chelsea’s number one striker. But to fix the lack of quality up front from the previous season, Chelsea instead brought in Diego Costa and Lukaku's loan deal at Everton was made permanent, clearly not learning from the mistake they made with Sturridge.

Three more successful seasons later and Chelsea were ready to bring the Belgian back after Costa fell out with manager Antonio Conte, but lost out to Manchester United. Just like Sturridge, Chelsea could have used someone like Lukaku when their options up front were lacking quality.

Since his first loan spell at West Brom, Lukaku has scored 93 league goals. A really embarrassing situation for a club who told the Belgian just 3 years ago that he wasn't good enough.

#2 Kevin de Bruyne

Undoubtedly the best player on this list and maybe the best player in the entire league, selling Kevin de Bruyne is one of the biggest mistakes Chelsea have ever made. Currently tearing up Premier League defences with Manchester City, it was not too long ago that de Bruyne was seen as not good enough and was sent to Wolfsburg having made just 3 league appearances in 2 years with the London club.

De Bruyne set the league alight, helping Wolfsburg to a 2nd finish in the 2014/15 season while scoring 16 goals and making 27 assists in all competitions. His world-class performances earned him a move back to the Premier League with Manchester City and he hasn't looked back since.

The former Wolfsburg man currently has 4 goals and 7 assists in the league to his name this season and is the driving force behind Manchester City's seemingly unstoppable title challenge. Likely to win his first league title with City this season and currently many's favourite to win the player of the year, de Bruyne continues to dazzle every week and all Chelsea can do is watch in awe and wonder what could have been.

#1 Mohamed Salah

Chelsea v Bolton Wanderers - Capital One Cup Third Round

The player who inspired this list, Mohamed Salah is the most in-form player in the league right now. Currently the league's top goal scorer, as a winger no less, Chelsea don't need any more reminders about how they missed out with Salah after he scored against his former club recently.

With an amazing 17 goals in all competitions already this season, Salah has arguably been the signing of the season. After a successful period in Italy with Fiorentina and Roma, Salah has returned to England with a bang, silencing all of his doubters in the process.

The Egyptian would walk straight into this current Chelsea side, instantly improving them by replacing Willian or Pedro in the starting lineup. Imagine Eden Hazard, Salah and Álvaro Morata all up front for Chelsea today.

There is no doubt, just like many players on this list, Chelsea must be hurting seeing players they once owned succeed for rival teams and Salah is just the latest on that long list. A steal for Liverpool this past transfer window for just £35 million, Chelsea let him go for just £15 million a year ago.

Edited by Amit Mishra