comes as no surprise that he's moving on,

its good buisness for chelsea, made a good few million profit on him if you take away his wages over the year he's been with us

i wish him well, although he didnt make it at the bridge

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11668_3705627,00.html

Yes, please.

But wait! Who will replace him?! ... ... :lol:

Sidwell was never in the starting line up so a replacement isn't really needed.

Or am I just stating the obvious here? :lol:

This was always likely, I wish him luck at Villa. Nice to see us make a bit of a profit as well.

Was a wildly successful transfer if you think about it...

Costs:

1 years relatively (compared to the rest of the squad) wages

Benefits:

a few matches of okay football

back up help make the club feel confident if there are injuries

5 million sale price

we clearly got more out than we put in on this one.

... and of course it must have assisted in Reading being relegated.... happy days :lol:

I like Sidwell, and I like Villa, slightly sad to see him go, but he was never going to break into our first team last season, and probably not this one either. Good luck to him.

Was a wildly successful transfer if you think about it...

Costs:

1 years relatively (compared to the rest of the squad) wages

Benefits:

a few matches of okay football

back up help make the club feel confident if there are injuries

5 million sale price

we clearly got more out than we put in on this one.

was the final nail in lassana diarra's coffin, and for a club which doesn't have to worry about the 5m profit (which is nice, true enough), I think that's a negative that outweighs those pluses.

Best thing for him!

Replacement for Barry?

Good point gullit4 - Maka is almost certain to retire at the end of this season, and probably won't play an awful lot. We've now got no backup at all for Mikel, which is a shame as Diarra is a player who was almost certain to get onto our bench every game if not more.

Chelsea Football Club has agreed terms with Aston Villa for the transfer of Steve Sidwell.

Sidwell agreed to join Chelsea from Reading on a free transfer in May 2007 and was the first of last summer's arrivals.

In his one season at Stamford Bridge, a stadium located just a short distance from his birthplace, he started 13 games with a further 12 sub appearances. He was used in all four competitions.

Sidwell's debut was as a second-half sub in the Community Shield at Wembley and his first start was away at his former club Reading in the second league match.

In September at Hull in the Carling Cup, a crisply-struck 25-yard shot opened his scoring account. It was his one Chelsea goal. A week later he made his sole Champions League appearance in the win away in Valencia.

The domestic cups after Christmas brought regular games although during a period when other midfielders were away at the African Cup of Nations, Sidwell was not involved in the league as much as anticipated at the time of his transfer.

Michael Ballack's return to fitness meant he dropped out of the restricted-number Champions League squad for the knockout stages and he did not play again after an FA Cup fifth round win over Huddersfield in February.

However at no point did he lose any of his enthusiasm or commitment and he was a popular member of the squad.

Chelsea Football Club would like to thank Steve for his contribution and wish him well at his new club.

he dont have to much chance to play :D

If you gotta go, oh you'd better go now, go now.

Good luck to him, I would have liked for him to get more playing time last season but alas, he just wasn't Grant's favourite.

Still, we got Deco for £8m... the gap in class between Sidwell and Deco is not £3m, good business by us.

Good luck Steve.

His departure was always inevitable and we've made a tidy little profit on him.

Sidwell was a pretty decent backup player, but just not good enough to play even somewhat regularily at Chelsea. Good piece of business by Chelsea and I'm sure he'll get his career back on track at Villa.

He was the closest thing I've seen at the Bridge to a David Batty.

Very tidy, but 90% of his passes went back to our defenders. That could have been a result of being under orders but as a strategy it rendered him unimpactful and forgettable.

Good luck at Villa mate, O'Neill will definitely get the best out of you.

That means that Deco will probably wear No. 9 next season!

That means that Deco will probably wear No. 9 next season!

I hope not! Ossie would be spinning. Give it to a proper striker. A good one at that!! (No offence Kezza, Sutton...)

Dare i say, good business by Chelsea?

Very tidy, but 90% of his passes went back to our defenders.

Ah be fair to him, I think his confidence was knocked quite heavily due to lack of games. He probably played it safe 90% of the time for fear of screwing up.

I hope not! Ossie would be spinning. Give it to a proper striker. A good one at that!! (No offence Kezza, Sutton...)

As long as he's not given the #25 shirt, I think I could live with it. I think #14 and/or #15 might become available before the season starts.

Dare i say, good business by Chelsea?

great business by us brought in a bit parter for nowt and sell him on for 5.5 mill. nice. bye bye steve

Since he joined us I never understanded why but now I see how we made a nice profit on the guy. It is harsh for a player but I reckon he picked up some ideas to his game practicing with some of the best in the trade.

Never liked his face to be honest but good luck to him in Villa.

The deal has been confirmed.