Oscar and Juan Cuadrado among players who could leave Chelsea during Antonio Conte cull

Judgement day approaches for several of Chelsea's current bloated 30-strong first-team squad. New manager Antonio Conte admitted in the aftermath of their victory over over AC Milan in Minneapolis on Wednesday night (3 August) that decisions regarding a number of players' futures will be made following their final friendly outing against Werder Bremen this weekend.

With that in mind, IBTimes UK looks at who exactly could be edging closer to the Stamford Bridge exit door ahead of their 2016-17 Premier League opener at home to London rivals West Ham United on 15 August.

Diego Costa

The saga involving a potential return to Atletico Madrid for Costa has become increasingly tedious and tends to fluctuate almost daily, between suggestions that he will make the move and firm denials from the Spanish club. Conte recently insisted that the fiery striker is "very happy" to stay put and he returned from a back injury to play just under an hour of that aforementioned defeat of Milan at US Bank Stadium.

He is a popular figure at the Vicente Calderon, having scored 36 goals during a memorable 2013-14 campaign during which they won La Liga and also reached the final of the Champions League, but Atleti president Enrique Cerezo recently stressed that he "belongs" to Chelsea. Diego Simeone has already bolstered his frontline by recruiting Kevin Gameiro from Sevilla and the club have declared that there will be no further signings. Still, you have to think that much could hinge on Conte's desire to bring Romelu Lukaku back to west London.

Loic Remy

One underperforming striker who has been destined to depart Chelsea for quite some time now is Remy. The Frenchman has been dogged by injury woes since joining from Queens Park Rangers in the summer of 2014, scoring only 12 times across all competitions. The arrival of Michy Batshuayi from Marseille in a £33m deal last month looked to have all but sealed his fate and rumours are abound that he could be used as a makeweight in a lucrative deal to land Lukaku from Everton.

Juan Cuadrado

Despite quickly falling out of favour under Jose Mourinho and spending last season on loan at Juventus, Cuadrado looked set to be given a second chance at Chelsea this season following their new managerial appointment. Conte has confessed to wanting to sign the versatile Colombian during his successful three-year stint in charge of the Bianconeri and his ability to be deployed as a tireless wing-back seemed to make him an ideal fit.

The Blues have not operated with Conte's favoured three-man defensive system during pre-season, however, instead choosing to set up in a 4-2-4 formation before experimenting slightly on Wednesday night. Although wingers such as Willian are still expected to do their fair share of defensive work, it rather seems that Cuadrado's services are not required amid strong interest from former Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Montella at Milan.

Oscar

The Brazilian playmaker's stock has fallen considerably in recent times, although at 24 there is still plenty of time for him to improve. Serie A duo Juventus and Inter have both been heavily linked with Oscar over recent weeks and it remains to be seen if his brace against Milan was enough to hand him a temporary reprieve.

"Last season was bad for all the players – not just for Oscar," Conte said afterwards. "He is a good player with a great talent but he can improve a lot. I see a good attitude and a good will and these 14 days have been important to me because I am judging the players during the training sessions so I can try to find the right solution.

"I think this match told me a lot about this and about the players who we will keep and the players we can send out on loan or sell. Today was important because my ideas are clearer than before."

Other potential exits: Marko Marin, Papy Djilobodji, Asmir Begovic, Matt Miazga (loan), Michael Hector (loan), Victor Moses, Pedro, Nemanja Matic