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Marko van Ginkel's troubled time at Chelsea appears to be coming to an end.

The Netherlands international has made just four appearances for the club, despite having been signed back in 2013, and he has less than a year left on his contract.

Currently, he is on the sidelines with a knee injury that has kept him out of action for nearly 500 days.

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Unfortunately, injuries have been a recurring theme for the 26-year-old.

He also ruptured his cruciate ligament shortly after joining the Blues, and suffered another knee injury in 2016. These damaging spells away from the field of play have wasted what could have potentially been a top talent.

During the time he has been able to get onto the pitch, he has been magnificent. He has returned to PSV for three loan spells and managed 64 appearances across two-and-a-half campaigns. He managed to score 31 goals despite generally playing as a central midfielder, whilst he also provided 10 assists.

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Such was his form there, he even managed to add to the two caps he picked up early in his career, and he now has eight overall.

De Telegraff (via football.london) said at the time that he had "transformed" PSV into a fighting machine, and they aren't the only ones to praise him. Jose Mourinho was full of compliments for him, whilst Adriano Galliano called him a "quality player" when he was with AC Milan during the 14/15 season.

Maybe there is slim hope for him to revive his career at Stamford Bridge.

Phillip Cocu has said he still believes he can play a role for the Blues in the future. However, it seems extremely unlikely, and time is not on his side.

Unfortunately, it seems it will be a case of what could have been for a player who, when truly given the opportunity, has been able to shine.