Chelsea loanee Charly Musonda’s hype train runs out of steam

Charly Musonda has often been viewed as one of the next big things. But his Chelsea hype train has quickly run out of steam.

Charly Musonda has never struggled to rate himself. After lighting up the youth level, he found first team appearances hard to come by. In January of 2016, he decided he was ready for a loan. Chelsea obliged by sending him on an 18 month loan to Real Betis.

And during those first six months, he was electric. He was looking like a seasoned pro in a highly technical league. Many were declaring him the next Eden Hazard as the eagerly awaited his return to Chelsea.

But it all went a bit wrong the next season. Gus Poyet had become the Real Betis manager and he did not take much of a liking to Musonda. Then injuries hit the young Belgian and his loan was terminated. He returned to Chelsea to recover for the remainder of the season.

Musonda was still kept around for the next season, believing himself ready to break into the Chelsea first team. Fans were incredibly excited by seeing him score his first Chelsea goal. And then things started to go south.

Antonio Conte will only ever play someone he thinks is ready. Age does not matter to him if he can field the best available squad for a match. Musonda must have believed that meant him. After finding playing time hard to come by, an ill conceived social media post all but closed all his doors at Chelsea for the season.

He played little more for the next few months. Eventually, it was decided that he would be loaned out. Many clubs were interested, but ultimately Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic won the race. Many Chelsea fans were upset at both the designation and the length of the loan. Musonda’s hype train demanded that he was better than Celtic.

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Except he really was not. He had a few bright appearances at first. And since then he has been nowhere to be seen at Celtic. If anything, he is proving Conte right for not playing him more.

And recently, just as he did when leaving Chelsea on loan, he went on a social media crusade against Celtic. He purged the club from his social media before eventually returning some parts of it.

A social media post about not playing at Chelsea. Unfollowing most associated with Chelsea as he left for Celtic. Posting about his love of Celtic before finding things hard and then scrubbing them from existence. These are not the acts of a professional. They are childish and will cause Chelsea to think twice about him.

Because no matter how much talent a player has, if they are not mature enough to use it properly or feel like they are owed something, they will fail. Footballing history is littered with players who were star teenagers before losing their way. Musonda is quickly adding his name to the list. Realistically, if he cannot have enough maturity to make it at Celtic, he will never have enough to make it at Chelsea.

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It is a sad state of affairs for Chelsea to have such a talented player have it go to waste. Fans will likely never know the full story behind Musonda. But it is clear that the narrative on him is turning. Whatever hype the name Musonda once brought is gone.