What happened to Chelsea’s squad from Mourinho’s disastrous 2015-16 season from Alexandre Pato to Branislav Ivanovic

CHELSEA had one of their worst Premier League seasons in recent memory in the 2015-16 campaign, finishing way down in tenth position.

Jose Mourinho’s second spell at the club came to an end over the Christmas period, with Guus Hiddink taking charge until the summer.

The Chelsea squad was littered with an array of expensive transfers and high-profile loanees.

Let’s take a closer look at the Blues’ squad during that campaign.

Thibaut Courtois

Since leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid in 2018, Thibaut Courtois has established himself as one of the very best keepers in the world.

He won La Liga with Los Blancos in the 2019-20 campaign, with the club conceding just 25 goals in 38 matches – the fewest in the division.

Branislav Ivanovic

Branislav Ivanovic moved to Zenit St Petersburg in 2017 and won back-to-back Russian Premier League titles.

He then returned to England at the beginning of this season, signing for newly-promoted West Brom.

Kurt Zouma

Zouma has worked his way back into the Chelsea set-up since going out on loan

After Kurt Zouma enjoyed two loan spells with Stoke City and Everton, he returned to Stamford Bridge for another stab at becoming a first team regular like he had been in the 2015-16 season.

And so far that has proved to be a good decision as he has appeared in 15 of the Blues’ Premier League matches so far in the current campaign.

John Terry

Chelsea legend John Terry was coming to the end of the road as a Blues player by the time the 2015-16 season drew to a close.

He would play just 14 times the following season before moving to Aston Villa, where he would go on to lose a Championship Play-Off Final to Fulham before becoming a member of the club’s backroom staff.

Cesar Azpilecueta

One of the few surviving members of that Chelsea squad, Cesar Azpilecueta has gone on to become club captain, taking over from Gary Cahill in 2019.

He has made over 400 appearances for the Blues across nine seasons.

Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas left Chelsea for Monaco in the 2019 January transfer window after four and a half successful years with the club.

He is still playing for Monaco, but has also dabbled in a bit of punditry work – most notably for the BBC at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Nemanja Matic

Following another year with Chelsea in 2016-17, Nemanja Matic joined Manchester United for £40million.

In November 2018, Matic refused to wear a Rememberance poppy on his shirt for a game against Bournemouth because his village of Vrelo was hit by the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999.

Pedro

Pedro racked up more than 200 appearances for Chelsea before leaving last summer.

He joined Serie A side Roma and has scored four goals in 15 games so far this season.

Willian

Willian made the move at the beginning of last season from Chelsea to Arsenal, although he has failed to make a real impact at the Emirates.

Off the field, he and teammate David Luiz bought Italian restaurant Babbo in 2018, an eatery located in Mayfair, London.

Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard made his £130million move from Chelsea to Real Madrid in 2019, but has been plagued with injuries ever since.

The Belgian forward has made just 35 appearances for Los Blancos over an 18-month period due to his bad run of physical problems which also included testing positive for coronavirus towards the end of 2020.

Diego Costa

Costa won the Premier League title with Chelsea in 2017

Diego Costa returned to Atletico Madrid in January 2018 for a third spell with the club.

He scored 19 goals in 81 games before having his contract terminated by Atletico in December 2020.

Asmir Begovic

Chelsea’s back-up keeper Asmir Begovic joined Bournemouth in 2017, but over the past two seasons he has been out on loan, firstly to Qarabag and now AC Milan.

Gary Cahill

Following eight fantastic years with Chelsea, club captain Gary Cahill left to join Crystal Palace in 2019 after being shunned by Blues boss Maurizio Sarri.

Nathan Ake

Nathan Ake wasn’t really at Chelsea during the 2015-16 season as he had a number of loan spells which kept him away from Stamford Bridge – Reading, Watford and Bournemouth.

He then joined Bournemouth permanently in 2017 for three years, before his big £41million switch to Manchester City last summer which is yet to materialise into anything on the pitch.

Fikayo Tomori

Fikayo Tomori is another Chelsea player who has essentially been on loan for the best part of five years at the likes of Brighton, Hull City, Derby County and now AC Milan.

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Abdul Rahman-Baba

Baba has not played for Chelsea in five years but is still technically a Blues player

Incredibly, left-back Abdul Rahman-Baba is still contracted to Chelsea despite having not played for them since the 2015-16 campaign.

Loan spells at Schalke, Reims, Mallorca and PAOK have kept him busy but Blues fans could be forgiven for having forgotten his name.

Juan Cuadrado

Juan Cuadrado’s career never got off the ground at Chelsea before he moved back to Italy to join Juventus where he continues to ply his trade.

John Obi Mikel

John Obi Mikel moved to China in 2017 before returning to England to play for Middlesbrough and Stoke, with a spell at Trabzonspor in between.

Meanwhile off the pitch his father Michael Obi was kidnapped for a second time – seven years after the first – but returned home by police following a gunfight in Nigeria.

Ramires

Ramires moved to China to play for Jiangsu Suning at the end of the 2015-16 season before joining Brazilian club Palmeiras in 2019.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has only made 61 appearances for CHelsea since the end of the 2015-16 season, but his loan spell at Crystal Palace did earn him a spot in England’s 2018 FIFA World Cup squad.

Victor Moses

Victor Moses is another member of this Chelsea squad who found himself perennially loaned out.

He is still contracted to Chelsea but has played at Fenerbahce, Inter Milan and Spartak Moscow since 2016.

Oscar

Oscar left for China four years ago and has remained there

Remarkably, Oscar – who has been playing out in China for Shanghai SIPG since 2017 – is only 29 years old.

Kenedy

Another player still under contract at Chelsea is Kenedy who has been loaned out to Watford, Newcastle, Getafe and is now at Granada.

Lucas Piazon

Piazon finally got his move away from Stamford Bridge in January of this year

Lucas Piazon is the famous loan case at Chelsea.

After NINE years at the club, seven loan spells and just three appearances for the Blues (all of which came in the 2012-13 season), he was finally sold to Braga last month.

Bertrand Traore

Now of Aston Villa fame, Bertrand Traore began his career at Chelsea and is also the cousin of Ajax striker Lassina Traore.

Falcao

Two year after his loan spell at Chelsea, Falcao was given a 16-month suspended sentence and an £8 million fine for tax evasion in 2018.

Alexandre Pato

Pato played just twice for Chelsea during his loan spell, scoring one goal

Free agent Alexandre Pato has recently asked for a huge house with a private pool and family protection to join Iraq club Al Diwaniya.

Loic Remy

Loic Remy has enjoyed spells at Crystal Palace (loan), Las Palmas, Getafe (loan), Lille and Çaykur Rizespor since the 2015-16 campaign.

Patrick Bamford

Patrick Bamford’s six loan spells finally led to a permanent move away from Chelsea in 2017 when he joined Middlesbrough, before he played a pivotal role in helping Leeds back into the Premier League.

Tammy Abraham

Tammy Abraham is another survivor of the 2015-16 squad and has now netted double figures for Chelsea in each of the last two seasons.