As far as unfortunate careers go, Marco Van Ginkel is up there among them.
The Dutch midfielder first arrived at Chelsea with a lot of promise back in 2013 in an £8.5m transfer from Vitesse, but injuries have since taken their toll.
Loans to Milan, Stoke City and numerous spells at PSV Eindhoven have helped him keep his career somewhat on track, but the player never reached the heights expected of him.
This season has been no different, as the 28-year-old has only made seven appearances for the club in all competitions, and yet the possibility of him staying hasn’t been dismissed.
This is according to the player himself, who spoke to ED in Holland about his situation, where it was explained that despite a contract running out in the summer, Van Ginkel and his contract have a clause that Chelsea can trigger to extend it by a year.
He said: “It’s conceivable that they would still like to receive an amount for me. After all the years they have invested in me, I would understand that”.
The player then joked that a stay at Chelsea probably wasn’t on the cards because he didn’t think he was ‘eligible’ to play for them anymore.
He added: “I have always had a great time at PSV and in the Netherlands, but of course we have to see what PSV wants in the future”.
All in all, everything seems to rest on whether or not Chelsea trigger that clause, although after all these years, perhaps letting him go on a free to pursue his career without any restrictions could be the right thing to do.