Chelsea Announce Departures of 5 Players, Including Gonzalo Higuain, Gary Cahill

Chelsea have announced that five players have left the club following the expiration of their contracts on Sunday, including Gonzalo Higuain and Gary Cahill.

The Blues revealed on their official website on Monday that the pair, along with Rob Green, Eduardo and Kyle Scott, had left the club.

Higuain joined the club on a six-month loan deal from Juventus in January.

The Argentinian made 18 appearances under former boss Maurizio Sarri, whom he worked under at Napoli, but he returned just five goals.

As Goal's Nizaar Kinsella noted, that Chelsea were not willing to keep him at the club despite their transfer ban shows how disappointing his time at Stamford Bridge was:

Higuain will return to Juve, where Sarri has since taken charge.

Meanwhile, Cahill has left Chelsea having helped them win two Premier League titles, two UEFA Europa Leagues, two FA Cups, the UEFA Champions League and the League Cup since his arrival in January 2012.

The 33-year-old, who replaced John Terry as club captain when he departed in 2017, made 291 appearances for the Blues. However, he played just eight times last season.

Football journalist Dan Levene wished him well:

Green served as the Blues' third-choice goalkeeper last season behind Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero.

The 39-year-old former England international has hung up his gloves without making a competitive appearance for Chelsea.

Nor did Eduardo, who was Chelsea's No. 3 'keeper for the two campaigns prior. He spent last season on loan with Vitesse Arnhem and is set to rejoin Braga in his native Portugal.

Scott, 21, made one first-team appearance for the Blues, a cameo in the FA Cup against Hull City in the 2017-18 season. Last season, he was on loan with Dutch side Telstar.