Antonio Conte must axe these 3 Chelsea players in January

Despite the Premier League season being less than two months old, anticipation is already building ahead of the reopening of the transfer window in January.

International football takes centre stage this fortnight, and this period of the season is likely to give Premier League managers a chance to reflect and analyse their club’s start to the campaign.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte may be one of those managers thoroughly analysing his squad, and working out potential incomings and departures from Stamford Bridge.

The Blues won their first three games of the new Premier League season, but have since hit a rocky patch, with just one victory in four games dropping them to seventh in the table.

Consequently, new boss Conte may be looking at where he can strengthen the side which, ultimately, leads to players leaving the club, so here are THREE that he should axe in the January window…

John Obi Mikel

John Obi Mikel has been at Stamford Bridge for ten years, signing from Norwegian side FK Lyn at the tender age of 19.

Over 350 appearances later though, it appears that his stay in West London is coming to an end.

Mikel has slowly been phased out of the first-team picture at Chelsea and made just 19 Premier League starts last season. This campaign though, he isn’t appeared on the pitch for the Blues at all.

At the age of 29; the Nigerian international, who represented his country at the Rio Olympics in the summer, can still do a job in the centre of midfield, but it’s not going to be at Chelsea, so maybe it’s time to end his decade long stay at Stamford Bridge.

Branislav Ivanovic

A stalwart in the Chelsea defence ever since his arrival from Lokomotiv Moscow back in 2008, there have been signs this season that Serbian international Branislav Ivanovic is in decline.

He’s been a part, at times the main part, of a Chelsea defence that has looked shaky at the start of the new season – a far cry away from the Ivanovic we’ve got used to seeing since his Premier League debut eight years ago.

With his contract up at the end of the season, and it looking unlikely to be renewed, Chelsea might try and sell up in January, enabling more room in the squad for Conte to bring in a long-term replacement.

With the Italian looking to bring in more defensive reinforcements in January, it might be the right time for Ivanovic to end his stay in West London.

Gary Cahill

Similarly to Ivanovic, Gary Cahill has struggled in the early stages of the season, and has looked all at sea to frequently to warrant a regular starting role.

The England international has started all seven Premier League games this season, but you can’t help thinking that if all of Chelsea’s central defensive options were fit, Cahill may struggle to get in the team.

This is part of his problem at the moment. He’s not playing well enough, and arguably hasn’t played well enough for a while, to nail down a first-team spot.

With Conte looking to bring in defensive reinforcements in January, alongside the return to fitness of captain John Terry and Kurt Zouma, Cahill is going to pushed down the pecking order.

If he wants to continue playing regularly for England, he may need a move away from Chelsea in January.