Report: Chelsea patient with Morata, Bakayoko due to club's past mistakes

Chelsea fans may have turned a blind eye to the two-way battle for the PFA Player of the Year award.

Prize-winner Mohamed Salah of Liverpool and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, hastily written off by Chelsea as young players, vied for the gong on Sunday as this season's most outstanding Premier League performers.

But lessons can be learned from such oversights, and that's what is influencing the club's patience with Alvaro Morata and Tiemoue Bakayoko, according to The Telegraph's Matt Law.

Both have endured a tricky initiation to English football, but Chelsea is reportedly unwilling to offload either player this summer unless they voice a desire to leave Stamford Bridge. Together they amounted to around £100 million in last summer's shopping spree, and the club is still confident that they will develop into important first-team players and will justify their transfer fees.

Morata, who is apparently of interest to former club Juventus, enjoyed a fruitful spell in his early days with the Blues, scoring seven goals over August and September and chipping in with efforts for the rest of the calendar year. However, since the start of 2018, he hasn't been able to rehash that form, scoring his first goal in mid-March and only adding a consolation against Tottenham Hotspur and a buffer in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final with Southampton since.

There have also been suggestions that Morata is struggling to settle into English life, and he has dealt with the recent death of a close friend.

Monaco, meanwhile, is watching Bakayoko's first season in England with interest, and would apparently be keen to re-sign him. The Frenchman was among the players plucked from the principality outfit after the club topped Ligue 1 and mounted a thrilling run in the Champions League, but he's won few fans at Chelsea thus far. Cesc Fabregas made 13 Premier League starts all of last season, but following Bakayoko's arrival, that number has risen to 22.

Morata and Bakayoko have the remaining four matches of Chelsea's Premier League season to prove they deserve a place in Antonio Conte's starting lineup for May 19's FA Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley. Both were named on the bench in the previous round's triumph.