Florent Malouda has revealed he had been banished from training with the Chelsea first team for what remained of his Stamford Bridge career.
Malouda took to Twitter to announce he was to keep fit with the club's youth side, posting a picture of the headquarters of their under-21 squad, along with the message: "This is where I'll train for my last season with the blues !!!"
It is understood the 32-year-old winger, who is in the final year of his contract, was segregated from the first team after failing to secure a move away this summer.
His banishment evoked memories of those of Nicolas Anelka and Alex by former boss Andre Villas-Boas last season, a move which reportedly did not go down well with their team-mates.
Malouda's circumstances are slightly different and it is understood Chelsea were willing to sell or loan him out during the transfer window - he was even linked with a return to former club Lyon ahead of Tuesday night's midnight transfer deadline in France.
The midfielder has not featured at all in any of the Blues' matchday squads this term and was left off the roster on Tuesday for their Champions League group-stage campaign - although he was named in their selection for the first half of the Barclays Premier League season.
A transfer to Brazilian giants Santos reportedly collapsed earlier this summer due to the wage demands of the France winger, who has been with Chelsea for five years but has become increasingly peripheral.
He will doubtless be on good money and may have been reluctant to join a club where he would earn less, preferring to see out his current deal and move as a free agent at the end of the season.
It remained to be seen on Wednesday whether Malouda would be punished for revealing his banishment on Twitter, with team-mate David Luiz rebuked two weeks ago after posting that he would miss Chelsea's match with Reading through injury.
Malouda's news ironically co-incided with that of the man who has effectively replaced him in the Blues squad, Ryan Bertrand.
