Chelsea facing squad cull under new FIFA guidelines
Chelsea could be forced to drop up to 30 young players from their squad under new FIFA guidelines aimed at limiting the amount of players teams can send out on loan.
Football's governing body is believed to have settled on a plan, with the new rules likely to be brought in ahead of the 2020/2021 season.
It is believed that clubs will be limited to sending between six and eight players out on loan, with a limit of two deal per season between sides.
That figure leaves Chelsea, who had 40 players out on loan last week, facing the daunting prospect of having to cull up to 30 players from their squad in order to comply by the new rules.
Chelsea have made significant money in recent years by using the loan system shrewdly to arrange temporary moves for young players before selling them on without ever giving them a sniff of first-team action.
The likes of Nemanja Matic, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne, Ryan Bertrand and Nathan Ake are among the recent examples of players being brought into the Chelsea academy young and later being sold on for significant profit.
The 'Blues' could also suffer if the number of players that can be loaned to a single club is limited to two, with three Chelsea players currently enjoying temporary spells at Vitesse Arnhem.
Chelsea's list of loanees in full:
Goalkeepers
Nathan Baxter (Yeovil Town)
Eduardo (Vitesse Arnhem)
Jamal Blackman (Leeds, returned)
Bradley Collins (Burton Albion)
Defenders
Baba Rahman (Schalke)
Jake Clarke-Salter (Vitesse Arnhem)
Michael Hector (Sheffield Wed)
Tomas Kalas (Bristol City)
Todd Kane (Hull City)
Matt Miazga (Nantes)
Kurt Zouma (Everton)
Kenneth Omeruo (Leganes)
Trevoh Chalobah (Ipswich)
Dujon Sterling (Coventry)
Reece James (Wigan Athletic)
Jay DaSilva (Bristol City)
Ola Aina (Torino)
Fiyako Tomori (Derby)
Fankaty Dabo (Sparta Rotterdam)
Midfielders
Lewis Baker (Leeds United)
Victorien Angban (Metz)
Kenedy (Newcastle)
Nathan (Atletico Mineiro)
Josimar Quintero (Lleida Esportiu)
Danilo Pantic (Partizan Belgrade)
Mario Pasalic (Atalanta)
Ruben Sammut (Falkirk)
Charlie Colkett (Shrewsbury Town)
Jacob Maddox (Cheltenham)
Kasey Palmer (Blackburn)
Kyle Scott (Telstar)
Mason Mount (Derby)
Tiemoue Bakayoko (AC Milan)
Charly Musonda (Vitesse Arnhem)
Kylian Hazard (Cercle Brugge)
Forwards
Joao Rodriguez (Tenerife)
Michy Batshuayi (Valencia)
Ike Ugbo (Scunthorpe)
Izzy Brown (Leeds)
Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa)