PFA chief Gordon Taylor has hit out at Chelsea loan management strategy.

Chelsea now have 33 players away on-loan this season.

Taylor told the Mirror: “It's a bit of a worry with so many Chelsea players out on loan. It's almost a warehousing of players. You wonder whether it brings into question the integrity of the various competitions.

“From a player's point of view, you can see they would want to go out on loan if there is not a first-team place ­available. But Chelsea have an academy so you have to wonder how it is they have such a phenomenal number of players out there.

“Players want to play and the loan system gives them that chance. But then there are players at these clubs in Europe who are denied the chance because others are coming in with their parent clubs paying their wages. It makes that option more ­attractive.

“So then it is not about the best team winning a ­particular competition, it is about who has the best ­relationship with the biggest clubs.

“It's not so much something that we've been alerted to. It's something that you can't fail to notice because it has been such a phenomenal number of players out there."