Chelsea is a club that demands the best from players so much so that you will more or less be out if you fail to adapt to Stamford Bridge quickly. Modern-day Premier League greats like Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Kevin de Bruyne learned the hard way at Chelsea. As youngsters, the duo failed to impress at Chelsea, ending up in Italy and Germany respectively before returning to the Premier League with Liverpool and Manchester City, going on to become modern-day greats.
There were some players who did enough to remain at Chelsea but did not do enough to be considered among the club greats. These are three such players from the modern era.
Joe Cole
Cole joined Chelsea from West Ham in 2003 and was seen by then manager Claudio Ranieri as a replacement for Gianfranco Zola.
Though he was most adept in playing on the wings, Cole was one of the best utility players that Chelsea has had in the modern era. He spent seven years at Stamford Bridge and went on to make 182 Premier League appearances for the club.
During his time with Chelsea, Cole won three Premier League titles with the club. However, as he played in the same side as the likes of Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, and John Terry, he was never really considered to be among the elite players of the club.
Ramires
The midfielder joined the Blues from Benfica in 2010, spending six successful years with the club and winning every major trophy in football.
The hard-working Ramires made more than 40 appearances in all competitions in his first four seasons with Chelsea, which included a mammoth 62 appearances in all competitions in the 2012-13 season.
He had the ability to score some memorable goals and won Chelsea Goal of the year awards in his first two seasons with the club.
John Obi Mikel
Perhaps no player is any more underappreciated in Chelsea history than Mikel who spent nine years at Stamford Bridge between 2006-2017.
Though best deployed as a defensive midfielder, the Nigerian played in multiple positions and never raised his temper. His professionalism for the team was admirable.
