Chelsea have confirmed that Tiemoue Bakayoko has left the club.
Bakayoko, 28, was part of Monaco’s squad which reached the 2016-17 Champions League semi-finals, and although they lost that tie against Juventus, several members of Monaco’s team, including Kylian Mbappe and Bernardo Silva, saw their stock rise before sealing major transfers the following summer; Bakayoko was another one of those players.
Joining Chelsea, who at the time were looking for a defensive midfielder to partner N’Golo Kante, in a deal worth £40m (TM), Bakayoko arrived in the Premier League with a huge reputation and was expected to continue his impressive development.
However, struggling to nail a regular spot down in the club’s senior first team, the former Monaco midfielder found himself excluded and loaned out to several European clubs, including Italian duo Napoli and AC Milan.
Consequently, having not featured for Chelsea since the 2017-18 season, the 28-year-old Frenchman was always likely to depart once his contract expired this summer.
And confirming his exit on Friday, the club, who posted on their official website, said: “The midfielder joined the Blues from Monaco back in 2017 and featured frequently under Antonio Conte, clocking up 43 appearances and playing the whole of the 2018 FA Cup final win over Manchester United. He scored three goals during that campaign.”
During his six years at Stamford Bridge, Bakayoko, who has just one senior international cap to his name, scored three goals in 43 games in all competitions.