Kai Havertz's exit from Chelsea proves that the Blues have 'problems when it comes to developing players' according to former player Florent Malouda.
The German's £65million transfer to Arsenal was another in a long line of young players who have failed to progress as expected at Stamford Bridge and subsequently left.
In recent seasons, Chelsea have waved goodbye to countless players who either didn't develop much at the club or were given poor playing time: Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Marc Guehi, Billy Gilmour, Kai Havertz, and most recently Ruben Loftus-Cheek make the list.
Speaking with Genting Casino, Malouda, a former Premier League and Champions League winner with Chelsea, said: ‘I think that the people that are associated to Chelsea need to look in the mirror because we’ve seen his kind of thing happen repeatedly at the club over the last few seasons. It is almost like a pattern.
‘Chelsea can always attract the best talent in the world at an early age and sometimes we fail to give these players a proper development plan.
‘Havertz is not in his prime yet. He won the Champions League and is a big player in the German national team, so you can’t question his quality, but there has been a frustration with his performances at Chelsea.
‘The bigger picture is that he is not the only player to have suffered or performed inconsistently at Chelsea and his form mirrors that of the club.
‘Whenever a player leaves, you always wish them well, but his departure underlines why Chelsea need to fix the problems they have when it comes to developing players.
Chelsea have been notorious in recent history for giving youth academy graduates little time or leniency if they make mistakes. Many have gone on to perform better elsewhere.
While Frank Lampard's first reign saw the successful intergration of several younger stars into the side, most notably Mason Mount, the club has left many talented youngsters frustrated with limited chances to carve a career there.
Malouda pointed further back to the examples of Kevin de Bruyne and Mo Salah to prove his point.
‘We’ve seen some brilliant players that were there [at Chelsea] go to other clubs and shine, the prime examples being Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah.
‘De Bruyne has just won the Treble. I wish he was at Chelsea to win the Treble, but if you asked him if he wanted to go back, he would say no.
‘That is something that needs to be resolved. Chelsea is an attractive club, but players have flourished when they’ve left for lots of different reasons. This is a problem that needs to be fixed.’