THE BLUES CONFIRM DEPATURE OF FALCAO, PATO AND AMELIA

Chelsea have confirmed the departures of loan signings Alexandre Pato and Radamel Falcao, along with backup goalkeeper Marco Amelia.

The loan agreements for Pato and Falcao expired on Thursday. Amelia is now a free agent, having signed a short-term contract at Stamford Bridge in October to provide additional cover for No. 1 goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who was sidelined for three months of last season with a knee injury.

Announcing the release of all three players on the club’s website, Chelsea said: “Chelsea Football Club thanks the players for their contributions and wishes them success in the future.”

Earlier this week, Pato’s agent, Gilmar Veloz, revealed that Chelsea had an option to sign his client permanently on a four-year contract, but the Blues have decided not to exercise it after a loan spell that saw the Brazilian make just two first-team appearances in four months at Stamford Bridge.

Pato was intended to alleviate a striker shortage at Chelsea, but arrived on loan from Corinthians in January well short of the required fitness level and was immediately placed on a “preseason” regime of double sessions at Cobham by interim manager Guus Hiddin.

The 26-year-old eventually made his Chelsea debut 64 days after signing and marked the occasion by winning and scoring a penalty in a 4-0 win over Aston Villa in April, but made just one more first-team appearance.

His squad No. 11, famously worn by Didier Drogba, has been taken by winger Pedro Rodriguez ahead of next season.

Falcao joined Chelsea on loan from Monaco last summer after a disappointing season at Manchester United, but made just 12 appearances as injuries frustrated his attempts to resurrect his stuttering career at Stamford Bridge.

Having been omitted from Jose Pekerman’s preliminary 40-man squad for this summer’s Copa America Centenario, he returned to Monaco for medical assessment earlier this month and says he is targeting the Ligue 1 Golden Boot award this season.

Chelsea have already moved to bolster new boss Antonio Conte’s attacking options ahead of the new Premier League campaign, with Marseille striker Michy Batshuayi in the final stages of a £33 million move to Stamford Bridge after passing a medical at Belgium’s Euro 2016 base in Bordeaux on Wednesday