Chelsea FC Reinforcements Will Come From Academy, Who Will Be Promoted?
Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho today addressed whether or not the club will be making any other signings during the transfer window and the answer is a resounding no. With Michael Essien, Kevin De Bruyne, Juan Mata, and Ryan Bertrand all leaving on either transfers or loans and only Mohamed Salah and Nemanja Matic coming the other way, the Chelsea active squad is down two players.
The Mourinho quote here:
"At this moment if we reduce numbers in the first team with Ryan Bertrand going on loan and if Juan and Kevin and Michael all leave, that’s four out and two in. I want to bring in another two because I like to work with a squad of 22 players. These two will be Academy players, that’s the way we’re going to do it now in order to open the door for them."
One of the two players joining the active squad will likely be Nathan Ake but the other is yet to be decided. Ake is a wonderful prospect and he has already made several appearances and starts for the senior team. His ceiling is sky high and hopefully he will see some more time as a valuable backup in defense and central midfield. It is unlikely that any other players will be recalled from their loan but if anyone was to be it would most likely be midfielder Victor Moses. Though he scored today for Liverpool in the FA Cup, Moses’s loan spell has been anything but productive and the Nigerian has often looked like he does not want to be at Anfield.
Perhaps Chelsea youth team forward Isaiah Brown will be the one promoted until Fernando Torres is healthy again. Brown has already his Premier League debut when he was with West Bromwich Albion but he has yet to do the same with Chelsea. As of now Chelsea only have two healthy strikers on their roster so Brown could add some much needed depth. Once Torress is back to full strength then either of the two midfield standouts in Lewis Baker and Ruben Loftus-Cheek could make the step up to the first team. Loftus-Cheek made his first team debut in the 2013 preseason in a friendly against Manchester City and Baker made his first team debut just three weeks ago against Derby County in the FA Cup. Both youngsters have showed tremendous promise and they would both benefit greatly from spending time with the senior squad.