Chelsea loan army: Which Blues players are out at other clubs & what is the transfer policy?

Chelsea's controversial loan policy has divided people in football but it continues to reap dividends for the European champions.

Accused of stockpiling, the Blues continue to raise vast sums of money through player sales and have recently raised over £100 million ($136m) in the 2021-22 summer transfer window.

Meanwhile, a few stars like Mason Mount, Reece James and Andreas Christensen were able to make the breakthrough to the first team after learning their trade out on loan at smaller clubs. 

Here are the players hoping to do the same in the coming years...

Which Chelsea players are out on loan?

What is Chelsea's loan policy?

Former technical director Michael Emenalo is the brainchild of what outsiders have dubbed the 'loan army', with the club typically having between 30 to 40 players moving on a temporary basis for various different reasons.

Firstly, with the hiring and firing of managers having been quite frequent since Roman Abramovich bought the club, first-team players can quickly find themselves surplus to requirements when a new manager arrives.

If Chelsea can't sell players that don't fit the new manager's system, a loan can be the answer.

Secondly, there are players that Chelsea see as financial opportunities, often loaning individuals out for several seasons to sell on for a profit.

One such example is Papy Djilobodji, who played only one minute for Chelsea but was sold for £8m ($11m) to Sunderland – a £5m profit on the £2.7m they paid to bring him in from Nantes.

Lastly, there are a host of former academy players like Mount, Tammy Abraham and James who needed experience to take prepare themselves for a top-level career.

The infrastructure around this is highly innovative, with a loan department having been set up at the Surrey training base.

Since 2019, former goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini has headed up the department, which has ex-players Paulo Ferreira and Tore Andre Flo in it. Technical coach Claude Makelele has been known to help out at Cobham too.

Furthermore, they work with analysts and scouts to keep track of players, giving feedback to them on their performances at their loan clubs. After leaving the club in 2017, Emenalo explained some of the infrastructures that he put in place during an interview with Chelsea TV.

"We have a scouting network that was revolutionary, people are copying some of the things that we did," Emenalo said. "We have managed to improve our opposition scouting department and the recruitment of players.

"There are so many things outside of the technical area which I am aware of that have also grown and improved exponentially."

Famously, Chelsea have always had a WhatsApp group involving the players on loan to celebrate their successes and keep them connected to Chelsea's staff.

An issue that the Blues will soon have to navigate, however, is the fact that FIFA are set to roll out big reforms to how many players clubs can have on loan.

From the start of next season, clubs will not be able to send more than eight players aged 22 or over out on loan. That limit will be reduced to six players for the 2022-23 campaign.

Chelsea may have to slightly reduce the number of older players on their books in the coming years.