Bertrand thanks Chelsea staff and fans for his time at the club

Ryan Bertrand is no longer a Chelsea player, which is a little bit strange. We've gotten used to him hanging around the first team or being out on loan, and while his fringe status was never going to let him be a permanent fixture in the club it sure felt like he was in this weird limbo for a while.

But now he's off for good -- with good money paid for him, no less -- and so we get the time to reminisce. No hard feelings from Bertie, it seems:

I have very fond memories of Chelsea. I have a lot of people to thank at the club having been there since the age of 15. The fans were fantastic with me there from day one. We had a fantastic relationship so from that aspect it was hard, but to finally get to a team that I can say is mine and my own is a really big positive for me on a personal level.

Source: Sky Sports.

Bertrand is a success story for Chelsea. While he never did manage to insert himself into the left back discussion for very long -- the presence of Ashley Cole and the emergence of Cesar Azpilicueta as a high-calibre left-sided player saw to that -- he still started and won a Champions League final, played intermittently in the league and turned his time at the club into a reasonably big-money move to a very decent team.

Good luck at Southampton, Ryan!