Petr Cech may have to leave Chelsea as a result of foreign player quota

Chelsea could be forced to sell Petr Cech in order to fall in line with homegrown quotas for the Premier League and Champions League.

The return of Stamford Bridge icon Didier Drogba means the Blues have one too many foreign players to meet guidelines.

Manager Jose Mourinho has been touting Fernando Torres and John Obi Mikel around to other clubs, but if there are no takers Cech may be the one to depart.

Clubs are only allowed 17 foreign players over the age of 21 in their official 25-man squads. Drogba's return brings Chelsea's number up to 18.

Belgium's goalkeeping star Thibaut Courtois has returned from a long-term loan at Atletico Madrid to fight for Chelsea's No 1 shirt.

With veteran Mark Schwarzer signing a new one-year deal, Cech departing would allow Mourinho to bring Jamal Blackman or Mitchell Beeney into the fold and meet the homegrown criteria.

Mourinho said: 'From the group you are expecting us to have as a squad, I have to send one away because we have one extra foreign player.

'So from all these players, if you think all of them have to stay, you are wrong. One of them has to go.' 

Sportsmail understands Chelsea are conscious of the home-grown quota but are still in the process of shaping their squad ahead of the new season and no decision has been taken on the future of any particular player.

Mourinho, meanwhile, is keen to blood several of the club's promising academy graduates this term and has already tipped the likes Lewis Baker, Izzy Brown and Dominic Solanke to win full international honours with England in the future.

Some of the Blues’ foreign stars, like new signing Cesc Fabregas and Romelu Lukaku, count as homegrown, but the departures of stalwarts Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole leave the west Londoners short of English talent.