Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has admitted that more players could be on their way out of Stamford Bridge this summer.

The Blues have already seen Fikayo Tomori make his loan switch to AC Milan permanent, while Olivier Giroud has joined him at the San Siro.

Meanwhile, Victor Moses – who, admittedly, hadn’t pulled on a Chelsea shirt in the best part of three years – has signed for Spartak Moscow permanently after a loan spell there, and young defender Marc Guehi has moved on to Crystal Palace after starring on loan at Championship playoff finalists Swansea.

Speaking to the Chelsea website, Tuchel discussed the subject of returning loan players – of which there were no fewer than 18.

The German said: “Some of them have done two or three pre-seasons here already. Some of them want to look absolutely for the chance to stay, some of them want to maybe leave. They’re humans, they’re not robots and that’s why we have to accept it’s not the easiest situation also for them.”

While a number of youngsters have already gone out on loan again for the new season, with midfielder Billy Gilmour, who’s joined Norwich, the most prominent name among them, the likes of Kenedy, Davide Zappacosta, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater (remember him?) are all still on the books.

Kenedy’s current deal doesn’t expire for another two years, but Zappacosta, Bakayoko and Drinkwater – the latter of whom finished last season on loan at Turkish Super Lig outfit Kasimpasa – out of contract next summer and don’t appear to be anywhere near Tuchel’s plans.

Loaning out players en masse is nothing new for Chelsea, but they have shown – not least so far this window – that they are prepared to cash in, too.