5 Modern Chelsea Players Who Were Better for Country Than Club

Frank Lampard did it. Didier Drogba did it, and so too did John Terry, Petr Cech, Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho.

The list of Chelsea stars—past and present—who have been the game-changers for club and country is as vast as the number of nationalities that have donned the Chelsea shirt down the years.

Yet there have been disappointments; there have been those players who struggle to multitask; those players who look sensational in national colours but disappoint for their club.

Every team has had them, and Chelsea have been no different.

So to celebrate the return of international football this week, Bleacher Report takes a look at five culprits who struggled to repeat their international form at Stamford Bridge.

Celestine Babayaro

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When Celestine Babayaro joined Chelsea in the summer of 1997, the Blues thought they had stumbled across one of the brightest young stars of the European game.

He had got himself known by starring in the Nigerian under-17s side that won the world championships in 1993, which then led to him joining Anderlecht. Three years later, Babayaro was part of the Super Eagles team that won gold at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, adding to his growing reputation.

When he joined Chelsea 12 months after his Olympic success, big things were expected. But it never quite happened for him, with Babayaro being knocked down the pecking order by Graeme Le Saux.

He didn't seem to progress; all that youthful potential remained exactly that, with Babyaro rarely doing enough to suggest he was a long-term prospect on the left side of defence.

Still, in Nigerian green, Babayaro remained a big presence for his country whenever he featured, and his performances meant his reputation at home remained strong. So much so, Babayaro maintains a legend status in the present, which is anything but the case in west London.

He left the Blues in 2005 to join Newcastle United before moving to MLS outfit LA Galaxy three years later, where, after just three months with the club, Babayaro was released from his contract.

Maniche

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Jose Mourinho's arrival at Chelsea from Porto in 2004 saw him bring two of the players with whom he had won the Champions League the previous season.

Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho proved shrewd buys for the newly appointed Blues boss, with the pair helping install his philosophy in the Chelsea dressing room. They were paid-up members of the Mourinho fan club, which helped give the boss an instant platform and rapport with his players.

We expected more Mourinho disciples to follow, with the likes of midfielder Costinha reportedly on the radar. That move didn't materialise, with Costinha remaining at Porto for the 2004/05 campaign before moving to Dynamo Moscow.

It was the same for Maniche, who made the same move as his Porto team-mate Costinha. Within six months, though, the Portuguese was at Stamford Bridge on loan. And thankfully for Chelsea, the move was never made permanent.

Maniche just didn't turn up for Chelsea in the second half of 2005/06. Not only had he been a star at Porto, but he was also a big name in the Portuguese national team. England fans were well aware of his talents, too, with Maniche part of the Portugal teams that dumped the Three Lions out of Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.

Maniche's most memorable contribution in a Chelsea shirt was when he was sent off against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge in early April 2006. Trailing 1-0 at the time, Maniche's dismissal inspired his team-mates to go on and win 4-1 with a player less.

That summed up his Chelsea career, which proved the complete opposite on the international stage.

Kevin De Bruyne

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Before his eventual departure from Stamford Bridge in January 2014, there was a swell of support for Kevin De Bruyne to play more regularly for Chelsea.

It was all down to the fact Blues supporters had seen what he could do on the international stage—and on loan with Werder Bremen—where De Bruyne had shone in the Belgium national team alongside Eden Hazard.

The attacking duo were—indeed, they still are—a big reason for Belgium's rise up the world rankings after years of obscurity. The dream from some sections of the terraces was that their international form would carry over to their club performances and give Chelsea a world-class attack.

Well, it happened with Hazard, but not quite with De Bruyne. In the handful of matches he played under Mourinho, De Bruyne was completely underwhelming. He struggled to impose himself and didn't play with the same confidence we had seen elsewhere.

Compared to others he was competing with at the time that included Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar, De Bruyne was way down the pecking order. All the while, his international performances maintained his reputation and allowed Chelsea to eventually cash in with his sale to Wolfsburg for £18 million.

Had he played anything like he did for his country, De Bruyne would probably be a Chelsea player now.

Mohamed Salah

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An exciting prospect with his club side FC Basel, it was what Mohamed Salah did on international duty with Egypt that really captured the imagination.

With his dazzling displays for the Pharaohs, Salah was being dubbed the Egyptian Messi for a long while and eventually Chelsea took the bait, stealing him from the clutches of Liverpool, who had been all set to sign him, and bringing Salah to Stamford Bridge in January 2014 instead.

Those international displays didn't quite materialise in Chelsea colours, however. In a team full of players of international renown, Salah didn't quite fit. He struggled to express himself, looking rigid and lacking confidence.

In comfortable surroundings with Egypt, where he was the star, things were often different. Indeed, it's proved the case with his loan to Roma that was made a permanent move last summer. Salah looks a different player to the man who struggled in west London.

John Obi Mikel

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The enigma that is John Obi Mikel still divides opinion.

There are those Chelsea fans who debate his form in the latter stages of 2011/12 as a measure of his greatness. That was when he really came into his own to help the Blues become London's first and only European champions.

Then there are those other Blues supporters who remember everything that was mundane before and after Munich 2012. Those years were as dull as dishwater for Mikel; he gave Chelsea very little other than frustration.

He was supposed to be the golden boy, which is how Mourinho described him when he joined the club from Lyn Oslo in 2006. For a club that has been treated to defensive midfielders such as Claude Makelele and Michael Essien in more recent times, Mikel was a major disappointment. Now, N'Golo Kante is reinforcing the point.

Still, while Chelsea fans will argue over Mikel, there is no debate in Nigeria. Mikel is a hero to his people as he so often turned up on the international stage to carry his team.

He often played further forward as a creative midfielder for the Super Eagles, which some will suggest is the reason he never excelled in west London as he was played out of position. There's also the argument that Mikel, as the star name, relished the responsibility, whereas at Chelsea he was just another face in a crowded dressing room of stars.

Regardless, playing for his country saw Mikel transformed. At Chelsea, he never made the grade.