Chelsea accused of 'warehousing' players after Blues send 33 players out on loan

Chelsea have been accused by the PFA of “warehousing” stars and influencing competitions across Europe with 33 players out on loan.

Players’ Union chief Gordon Taylor also fears first-teamers in other countries are being denied the chance to feature because clubs with links to the champions would rather borrow their players.

Taylor told Mirror Sport: “You just wonder where the number will end because it’s a pretty strong influence that one Premier League club seems to be having in so many ­competitions.”

An estimated £100million has been spent on the 33 Blues with 12 of them full ­internationals. The club have players on loan in Holland, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey and Portugal as well as England.

Some are transfer flops such as Juan Cuadrado, farmed out so the Blues can ­accommodate Pedro from Barcelona, while Mohamed Salah has had a string of clubs after him following his spell at Fiorentina yet cannot get into Chelsea’s team.

Taylor said: “It’s a bit of a worry with so many Chelsea players out on loan. It’s almost a warehousing of players. You wonder whether it brings into question the integrity of the various competitions.

“From a player’s point of view, you can see they would want to go out on loan if there is not a first-team place ­available. But Chelsea have an academy so you have to wonder how it is they have such a phenomenal number of players out there.

“Players want to play and the loan system gives them that chance. But then there are players at these clubs in Europe who are denied the chance because others are coming in with their parent clubs paying their wages. It makes that option more ­attractive.

“So then it is not about the best team winning a ­particular competition, it is about who has the best ­relationship with the biggest clubs.

“It’s not so much something that we’ve been alerted to. It’s something that you can’t fail to notice because it has been such a phenomenal number of players out there.”

All Premier League squads are limited to 25 players. It has led to questions over why, having won the UEFA Youth League with their Under-19s and the FA Youth Cup with their ­Under-18s in four of the last six years, Chelsea have continued to hoover up more and more talented European players.