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Winston Bogarde has claimed that Chelsea never asked him to take a pay cut on his £40,000-a-week salary and the club also wouldn't send him out on loan for anything less than 100 per cent of his wages being paid during his ill-fated spell at Stamford Bridge.

The Dutch defender joined Chelsea in 2000 but rarely featured for the first team during his four-year spell in west London.

Bogarde was signed when Gianluca Vialli was Chelsea boss, but the Italian was sacked within a week to be replaced by Claudio Ranieri.

Winston Bogarde spent four years at Stamford Bridge but hardly featured in Chelsea's first team

Despite his lack of playing opportunities, Bogarde honoured the contract and continued to collect his £40k salary from the club.

But, in an interview with the Guardian, the 44-year-old said he was never asked to take a pay cut and Chelsea wouldn't loan him to another club unless they paid all of his wages.

'No, they didn’t try that,' Bogarde replied when asked whether Chelsea considered cutting his wages.

He added: 'Vialli bought me and when I had been there a week he got sacked. You have to look who the new manager’s going to be and if you’re still going to get a chance.

Bogarde was signed under Gianluca Vialli, who was replaced by Claudio Ranieri (right) within a week

'They had to cut costs. My situation was not very good and we tried to solve it many ways. Like to maybe go on loan or sell me, or whatever. But in the end it didn’t work out.

'A club could not pay my whole salary (for a loan deal), they could maybe pay 70 per cent. And they asked Chelsea to pay the other 30 per cent and Chelsea said: "No. If you want to take him it’s going to be 100% or nothing. He is going nowhere".'

'Of course. For a player, for me, it’s terrible not to play. Yet I had to return for training. Return looking for the next solution, you understand?'