Chelsea's Malouda Tops Exit List

FLORENT MALOUDA will head a Chelsea clear-out as Roberto Di Matteo looks to make room for new buys. The winger has joined up with the pre-season tour of America after his move to Brazilian club Santos collapsed. But he will be told he does not figure in Di Matteo�s plans for the new season and can leave at the right price. And he won�t be the only one heading for the exit as Di Matteo prepares to offload a number of his fringe players. The Chelsea boss said: �Florent is back with us now and I will have a talk with him this week. �We cannot name more than 25 players in the squad so we will have to make some decisions. �Pre-season gives me a great opportunity to look at the new players and see how they develop. �The final decision on who will go and who will stay will be made at the beginning of August.� Malouda, 32, still has 12 months of his �70,000-a-week contract to run and had been hoping to be released as a free agent. But Chelsea are looking for around �5million for the former Lyon player. It was that fee coupled with his �3million-a-year wage demands that killed Santos� interest. Yossi Benayoun and Gael Kakuta are also surplus to requirements after returning from loans while Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Josh McEachran are likely to be sent on loan. With Brazil midfielder Oscar to undergo a medical this week ahead of his �25m move from Internacional, Di Matteo is in the middle of a major overhaul. He has already sanctioned the signings of �32m Eden Hazard and �7m Marko Marin and still wants to sign a striker and a right-back before the new season. But new boy Marin insists he is not overawed by the challenge ahead despite facing competition from Oscar, Hazard and Juan Mata for his place. The German international revealed: �Tottenham were interested in me in January but once Chelsea made a bid it was not a choice for me. �I decided straight away that I wanted to come to Chelsea. �Last season I was injured a lot and couldn�t play as much as I wanted. But it wasn�t a surprise when Chelsea came in for me because over the years there were a lot of big clubs interested. It was the obvious step to come to England. �I know I won�t play every game for Chelsea but I know I can improve from being with so many quality players and I am keen to show the manager what I can do. �I was at the Champions League final and naturally I was supporting Chelsea. It made me believe I�d made the right decision when they won the European Cup. �I already have a house in London and my girlfriend will join me when she has finished her studies in Germany. I am settled in at Chelsea and ready to go.�