Andrej Kramaric Transfer to Leicester Is a Warning Sign for Chelsea

We've already seen Chelsea lose twice this season to wipe free the invincible tag with which the media had been quick to label Jose Mourinho's team.

Now that Andrej Kramaric has snubbed a move to Stamford Bridge in favour of joining Leicester City, are we seeing Chelsea's clout in the transfer market being diluted?

Let's not get too carried away here. Chelsea have missed out on a player who wouldn't have been thrust into the first team; a major star of the game hasn't turned his back on the club.

What Kramaric's decision tells us, though, is the appeal of joining Chelsea for up-and-coming players perhaps isn't what it has been in recent seasons.

Chelsea and the Foxes are worlds apart. Well, if we want to get technical, they're actually an entire division apart.

Mourinho's side are top, and Leicester are struggling at the foot of the Premier League.

Clearly, that fact doesn't concern Kramaric. He wants to play in English football's top flight, and he's going to have a better chance of doing that under Nigel Pearson.

Indeed, there's an argument as to whether Kramaric would have even had a coaching session with Mourinho, let alone made his starting lineup this season.

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The theory was such that once the 23-year-old joined Chelsea, he was going straight out on loan to the Blues' unofficial feeder club, Vitesse Arnhem of the Eredivisie.

The Guardian reported that would be the case in late December, with Leicester seemingly being pipped to the post for Kramaric's signature.

That prospect was probably all the bargaining power Pearson needed, however.

Chelsea's recent past when it comes to fringe players is one defined by loan moves that invariably have little impact on a player's chances of making it into the first team at Stamford Bridge.

Aside from the extraordinary talents of Thibaut Courtois, Mourinho's current 24-man squad includes just one other player to have benefited from joining the club, then being loaned: Kurt Zouma.

In contrast, the list of failures is a long one. And this season, the Blues have more than 20 players plying their trade elsewhere on loan moves.

Kramaric wasn't just competing with Diego Costa, Didier Drogba and Loic Remy. In the summer he would be up against Patrick Bamford to be made Chelsea's third-choice striker in the event Drogba retires.

Not only that, he's a player not widely seen as the out-and-out striker Mourinho needs, preferring to play slightly deeper and in behind another front man.

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That would mean eating up the territory of Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Oscar.

Not going to happen. His chances were limited.

Chelsea had their reasons, yet one can't help but view the pursuit of Kramaric as another investment in a transfer policy that has rewarded Chelsea handsomely.

By buying up-and-coming players in droves, Chelsea have cleverly exploited the loan system to speed up the development of someone like Courtois or to make money—a lot of money.

In the past 12 months alone the club has made significant profits on the sales of Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku—two players signed and loaned out to willing clubs before being sold for close to a combined £50 million.

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It's a strategy at which one can't help but be marveled. It's borderline genius and has allowed Chelsea to reinvest their income in the likes of Costa and Fabregas.

Like any investment, Chelsea have been playing the long game. Now the dividends are paying them handsomely.

Kramaric has thrown a spanner into the works, though. He's put football ahead of the appeal of being on the books of one of Europe's most powerful clubs. And credit to him.

He's only 23, yet Kramaric has shown great maturity. He's in control of his career. Rather than face the prospect of being shipped out across the continent, he's taken a gamble on Leicester, where he can dictate how his career progresses simply by performing.

If he pulls it off, he may well set an example to the next young talent being coveted in west London.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.