![By Carla Cortés (Elche CF 0-4 Valencia CF) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/627d0870c8e96e9d92d0a616f96080214de6dc26c2a9f48572812835f15c9dda.jpg "By Carla Cortés (Elche CF 0-4 Valencia CF) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
Chelsea FC made a big splash in the transfer market this week by bringing Colombian striker Radamel Falcao in on loan from AS Monaco. What may have been lost in the news is that Chelsea sent a player on loan to Monaco as well.
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Croatian youngster Mario Pasalic announced that he will be spending the 2015-16 season in the French principality. He joined Chelsea FC just last summer from Hajduk Split for a reported fee of £3m and was sent on loan to La Liga club Elche.
He quickly ingrained himself in the Elche lineup and started 26 games for the club. They finished a respectable 13th in La Liga but were relegated for unpaid taxes to the Spanish government. He made 35 appearances in all and scored 3 goals while making an impression on the league and Chelsea brass.
His move to Monaco may not represent a step up in the level of the league but he will be playing for a much bigger club than Elche. Pasalic, as quoted by Goal.com, was “delighted” with the move and sees the loan as another step towards the Chelsea first team.
He said, “I am delighted and it all happened like in a movie. On Wednesday I was at the beach and [on Thursday] morning there was Monaco’s private jet waiting for me at Split airport! Chelsea? No, it was not an option. I need to improve, grow and then hope to get a chance with Chelsea”.
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The 20 year old Croatian is still a few years at least from the Chelsea first team but Monaco is as good a place as any to stake his claim. He will be playing alongside some big names such as Joao Moutinho and should be featuring in the UEFA Champions League.
Monaco finished third in Ligue 1 last season and are in the Champions League qualifying rounds so if they make it to the group stage he should see some minutes in Europe’s premier club competition.
Pasalic is by no means a lock to make the Chelsea first team in the next few years so he needs to take the next step by blowing us all away at Monaco. Thibaut Courtois and Nemanja Matic both had to leave the club and become one of the best in the world at their respective positions before returning to Chelsea and getting their place in the first team. Mario Pasalic is nowhere near that level right now but at just 20 years old he has plenty of time left in his career to make that leap.
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