The summer of 2012 saw Chelsea go all-out and sign a plethora of attacking players in an attempt to revamp an aging squad and introduce a new brand of attacking football. Marko Marin, Eden Hazard, Oscar and Victor Moses all made their way to Stamford Bridge. Eden Hazard and Oscar both made an almost instant impact and established themselves as regulars in the first team. However, Victor Moses and Marko Marin failed to live up to the expectations surrounding them.
Marko Marin arrived from German club Werder Bremen with a sizeable reputation, although he was signed on the cheap. He was known for being a tricky winger who was slightly injury-prone. He impressed in his first game for Chelsea, a pre-season friendly against the Seattle Sounders. But before he could make his competitive debut for Chelsea he got injured. He made his debut against Wolves in the Capital One Cup, coming on as a substitute. However, he found regular first-team football hard to come by throughout the season, either due to injuries or not being selected by Benitez. Whenever he did get some game time, he failed to make a considerable impact and as a result was never able to bench Mata, Oscar, Hazard, Moses and or even Benayoun. In a season when Chelsea played a stunning 69 games, Marin only made 15 appearances, scoring 1 goal in the process (it came against Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge).
Victor Moses was signed from Wigan Athletic towards the end of the transfer window. He made his debut against QPR in the Premier League as a second half substitute. However, he found first team football hard to come by until Benitez was appointed. He became a regular in the first team under Benitez. His performances in the African Cup of Nations were impressive but his form took a nosedive after that. He put in a string of poor performances for Chelsea, although he did find some scoring form in the Europa League. Moses has looked better than Marin and that’s why he has found himself more among the scheme of things at Stamford Bridge; however, he has been average or poor more often than not. He has decent pace and can beat defenders, but he lacks an end product and must look to improve his decision-making in front of goal as well as on the wings. He finished the season with 10 goals and 4 assists in 43 appearances.

Should both be sold?
It’s safe to say neither have looked like world-beaters. But offloading both of them wouldn’t make sense. Chelsea should look to offload Marko Marin as his game is one-dimensional and he’s extremely injury-prone. He has struggled with his fitness and it has clearly affected his ability. Many will argue that Marin hasn’t been given a fair chance to establish himself in the first-team. However, if he was working hard enough in training and doing enough to catch the manager’s eye, he would have been given a few more chances. The fact that he was ignored by 2 managers even when he was fully fit says it all. Victor Moses has looked decent in patches and counts as a homegrown player. More importantly, he can be utilised as a squad player because he is young and improving. It’s another matter that he may never be good enough to be a regular at Chelsea, but he’d be a decent player to keep around
.