Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League this season, but they will be playing in the Europa Conference League next term.
The Blues lost their Europa League spot after Manchester United’s FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City on Saturday.
It is a disappointing development, but there are a few players who can benefit from Chelsea dropping down to European football’s third-tier competition.
Romeo Lavia
Romeo Lavia only managed to play one game for Chelsea this season because of injury.
This summer, the midfielder is going to have to put a lot of work into recovering his match fitness and sharpness again.
The Europa Conference League could help him with that, with Chelsea now needing to play a two-legged play-off tie in August to get into the competition proper.
Those two games, then, could be the perfect opportunity for Lavia to get some competitive minutes under his belt.
Robert Sanchez
Chelsea started the season with Robert Sanchez as their first-choice goalkeeper.
However, after an injury to the Spaniard, Djordje Petrovic became Mauricio Pochettino‘s main man between the sticks.
Had Chelsea qualified for the Europa League, Pochettino’s successor could have easily decided to go with Petrovic in the competition rather than second-choice Sanchez in an attempt to win the trophy.
But with the Europa Conference League not being as prestigious as its sister competition, the Blues’ next manager may be happy to go with Sanchez in that tournament. And if the 26-year-old performs well in it, maybe he can reclaim his No.1 spot.
Wesley Fofana
Like Lavia, Wesley Fofana has had to deal with a serious injury problem this season.
In fact, the central defender did not play a single minute of football under Pochettino.
Before his exit, the Argentine said he was hopeful of having Fofana back for pre-season. Again, like Lavia, then, Chelsea’s two-legged play-off tie in the Europa Conference League could be used to help the Frenchman get his match fitness and sharpness back.
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