Tireless, talented, but deeply frustrating - the time is right for Chelsea to sell Mateo Kovacic

Mateo Kovacic's time at Chelsea appears to be coming to something of a sorry end, with the club at its lowest ebb since he signed from Real Madrid five years ago. The midfielder is likely to move on this summer as he prepares to enter the final 12 months of his contract, and while he is hugely popular among the Blues' fanbase, his legacy at Stamford Bridge is blurred.

Though the Croatian has intimated that he is happy in London and has no plans to move, the decision may well be taken out of his hands as incoming head coach Mauricio Pochettino and co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali oversee a clearout - with those entering the last year of their deal in the firing line.

Kovacic will have no shortage of suitors and has already been linked with a host of leading European clubs, but should Chelsea be trying to keep hold of one of their longest-serving lieutenants? GOAL explains why the time is right for both parties to go their separate ways...