Chelsea banished 45-goal forward from first-team squad and he didn’t play for an entire season, club tried to ‘break him mentally’
Regardless of who is in charge, one constant at Chelsea has been that players and managers need to meet certain standards to stay for an extended duration.
Under Todd Boehly’s current administration, there has been a significant turnover of players, with discussions about parting ways with several individuals just months after they joined the Blues in this transfer window.
This treatment has not been restricted to just players who haven’t been able to make an impact on the club at all. Ben Chilwell was one of the best left-backs in world football a few years ago, to being left out the Premier League squad completely right now.
Malouda said Chelsea ‘tried to destroy him mentally’
This is similar to what was suffered by former Chelsea star Florent Malouda, who had previously been seen as a crucial member of a Premier League and FA Cup winning Blues side.
In 2013 though, the Frenchman was excluded from the squad and refused the ability to train with the first team under the rein of Rafa Benitez.
This led to Malouda hinting that the club were looking to make him look bad for wanting to move on and that the club were doing their best to destroy him mentally.
He said to The Mail Online (via France-Guyane) “The details I’ll explain when I’m free. But the strategy they use is to make me look like a player seeking substantial compensation. If you are excluded for one year, it is very, very long.
“You must be armed mentally. All this is done to break me mentally, but in reality, it motivates me enormously.”