Chelsea confirm departure of Tiemoue Bakayoko | OneFootball

Tiemoue Bakayoko has officially left Chelsea 12 months before his contract was due to expire.

A £40m signing from Monaco in 2017, Bakayoko was the second-biggest purchase in club history at the time but he would spend just one campaign with the first team before spending the next five years out on loan.

Bakayoko made 43 appearances for Chelsea in the 2017/18 campaign and never ended up playing for the Blues again, with his final competitive outing coming in a 3-0 loss to Newcastle on the final day of the campaign.

A loan to AC Milan was arranged for the 2018/19 campaign, with the Rossoneri including an option to buy, but a mixed run of form saw them reject the offer and Bakayoko would eventually return to Monaco for the 2019/20 season.

Monaco also declined to trigger their purchase option for Bakayoko, who was back in Italy the following campaign for a reunion with former Milan boss Gennaro Gattuso.

He returned to Chelsea in the summer of 2021 and agreed a two-year loan with Milan which included an obligation to buy if Bakayoko made 15 Serie A appearances in either campaign, but he was restricted to just 14 outings in 2021/22 before being handed just 39 minutes across three appearances this past season.

Despite his Chelsea contract running until 2024, the Blues have now bid farewell to Bakayoko 12 months earlier than expected.

"We thank Tiemoue for his contribution during his season at Stamford Bridge," a club statement read.

The summer transfer window in which Bakayoko arrived at Chelsea has gone down in infamy for its poor return.

Aside from the success story of Antonio Rudiger and the reliable service of backup goalkeeper Willy Caballero, the Blues spent a total of £146m to land Bakayoko, Davide Zappacosta, Alvaro Morata and Danny Drinkwater. The quartet would combine for just 190 appearances for the club.