Chelsea loan watch: Silly season edition, Lewis Baker, Nathaniel Chalobah and more!
By Siva Sankar
With Chelsea’s abundance of talent out on loan, it’s nice to take stock of what they’ve been doing once in a while. Here is the silly season edition of loan watch.
In what is the first of many loans Chelsea FC will be arranging for next season, Brazilian youngster Nathan has rejoined Vitesse Arnhem on loan for another year.
Despite showing a few moments of quality early on, he didn’t feature much at Vitesse owing largely to multiple injuries he suffered throughout the season.Hopefully with that period behind him, the youngster will be looking to kick on and make an impression.
This move makes sense as former manager Peter Bosz and Vitesse captain Guram Kashia have urged youngsters coming on loan to stay beyond a season in order to fully realize their potential.
Also, due to the nature of work permit regulations, Nathan’s low fee means that he isn’t eligible for a special work permit unlike his compatriot Kenedy. With multi-year loan deals proving to be more effective in furthering player development, it is expected that at least one more youngster who was on loan last season will return to the Eredivisie.
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Lewis Baker, who after a phenomenal showing at the Toulon Tournament this summer would have hoped for a chance to play in the first team at Chelsea seems destined to return as well. At first glance, this may look like a step backwards, but it is believed to be the best move for the England U-21 international at this stage of his career.
Although he was bright last season, he didn’t really assert himself in the league due to multiple factors including the midseason departure of Bosz. He will be expected to up his game this season and become one of the best in the league in his position if he returns to Vitesse.
He will no doubt be one of the centerpieces of the team and that is an opportunity that he won’t get at other possible destinations.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel Chalobah who spent a season at Napoli has reportedly attracted interest from Serie A club Torino. Although Chalobah didn’t get much playing time at Napoli, he was well loved by his teammates and well received by the fans.
Chalobah seems to have settled comfortably into Italy and if Torino can promise him regular minutes, he may well find himself back there. After acquitting himself impressively with England U-21s, a level he seems to have surpassed a long time ago, he will hope that he has done enough to impress Antonio Conte. At the very least, he will have attracted suitors of a higher profile both within England and abroad.
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Despite all of this, both Baker and Chalobah are expected to start the pre-season with Chelsea where hopefully they’ll get a chance to impress Conte and maybe become a part of his plans for next season.