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Chelsea FC’s youth setup is clearly doing something right as yet another Blues youngster is being courted by a big club in Europe. Inter Milan is reportedly interested in taking Mario Pasalic on loan for the 2014-15 season, just a year removed from his acquisition by Chelsea.
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Born in Germany, the 20 year old made his name at Croatian club Hajduk Split after joining the youth academy in 2006. He made his senior team debut at the tail end of the 2012-13 season at just 18 years old and went on to became a full time starter in 2013-14.
He made 32 appearances for Split in his first full season, scored 11 goals, and notched 5 assists. While not groundbreaking numbers, it showed that the young Croatian was above the level of his native country’s league.
After signing for Chelsea FC in July 2014, he was sent on loan to Spanish side El Che for the 14-15 season. In 35 appearances for El Che, Pasalic scored 5 goals but failed to record an assist. It was a good sign of the youngster’s talent that he was able to make an impact in Spain but he is still far from being considered for the first team.
In recent years Inter Milan has fallen on hard times financially, much like their derby rivals AC Milan, and have resorted to signing older players on free transfers or bringing in players on loan. While a move to Inter and Serie A would not represent a step up in terms of competition from La Liga, playing for a more high profile club than El Che could present another challenge for the youngster to overcome.
The quality of players he would be playing alongside would also increase as he will be in the same squad as senior internationals such as Freddy Guarin, Gary Medel, and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Chelsea FC have done business with Inter Milan in the past in the form of a loan but it did not go very well for either party. The Blues sent young Brazilian fullback Wallace to Inter but he only made 3 appearances all season long and rarely even made the bench. Perhaps the move was too aggressive for a teenager fresh from Brazil but it is not encouraging for the future of Pasalic at the club.
Pasalic is further along in his development than Wallace as he has already received a senior international call-up so this move may be more beneficial for him than it was for the Brazilian. Either way this would be a step up for the youngster and it would give him another chance to prove his worth with a team that has higher expectations than El Che.
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