With the French window closing earlier in the week and Florent Malouda tweeting that he's now training with the U21's, it would seem that Chelsea would be stuck with an expensive and disgruntled player until the January window at the earliest. That isn't necessarily the case though, as there is still an option available to both the club and player should they wish to send Malouda out on loan. The emergency loan period for the lower levels of English football opens on Saturday, so Chelsea could realistically send him on loan to one of the sides competing for promotion in the Championship to keep him happy until January.
At this point it's still a bit unclear exactly what offers were on the table for Malouda and the club, but it's certain that we didn't find one that made all parties happy. While I'm sure Malouda would prefer a higher level of competition than the Championship, I'd have to assume that would be a better outcome for him than training with the U21's. This would also be an opportunity for Chelsea to remove a potential distraction, and possibly even reduce the wage bill by a slight amount.
I have no idea if this is a situation that either Chelsea or Malouda would consider, but at this point I'd have to think it would be best for all parties involved. Don't be surprised if you start to hear Malouda linked to some of the better clubs in the Championship in the coming days, as the Frenchman would still be a clear boost to any of their hopes of promotion and it just makes an awful lot of sense. At the end of the day, that's probably the best thing for all of us.