We’ll always have Vitesse: Lucas Piazon, Christian Atsu and Matt Miazga
By George Perry
Lucas Piazon, Christian Atsu and Matt Miazga are Chelsea’s 36th, 37th and 38th loanees of the 2016/17 campaign. While they may never share memories of Stamford Bridge, they’ll have plenty to talk about from Vitesse.
Chelsea concluded transfer deadline day true to form, by announcing the final three players to go on loan. Lucas Piazon, Christian Atsu and Matt Miazga will all continue their Chelsea careers somewhere other than Chelsea: Fulham, Newcastle and – of course – Vitesse, respectively.
Matt Miazga was the surprise move of the bunch. He had been linked with loans to Eintracht Frankfurt earlier in the summer, and more recently with Espanyol in La Liga. While Vitesse always lingers as a possible destination for all Chelsea prospects, few foresaw the American spending this season in the Eredivisie.
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Miazga will tread in the footsteps of many Blues when he enters Vitesse’s GelreDome home stadium. His fellow last-minute loanees will be able to tell him about the season when Vitesse sealed its reputation as “Chelsea B.”
Lucas Piazon and Christian Atsu were part of the 2013/14 Vitesse Arnhem team that featured six Chelsea loanees. In addition to Piazon and Atsu, one of those six is still on Chelsea’s books and in the Eredivisie. Bertrand Traore will face his former foster club and his nominal teammate Miazga as a member of Ajax, where he arrived on loan in mid-August.
The Chelsea – Vitesse relationship appears to satisfy both parties. The Dutch side gains top prospects at a discount, while Chelsea is able to outsource player development. If there is any resentment at the Chelsea players’ arrival, their performance quickly silences critics. Piazon and Traore were Vitesse’s leading scorers in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons, respectively.
A Vitesse club spokesman in 2013 testified to their side of the deal:
"We have a good relationship with Chelsea. Call it a co-operation. We benefit due to the high level of these players; Chelsea benefit by the experience they get. It does not hinder our own young players. Making the team better makes the players better."
Michael Emenalo lent his agreement.
"We felt it is better for them to go on loan to somewhere where they get good competition. It’s working with Vitesse because the Dutch league plays in a desirable way and they have done what they promised. When they say they want a player, the player actually does play. – Express"
Give him credit for subtle, unintentional honesty with that “actually.” When Chelsea says they want a player, he usually ends up on loan. Later in the interview, Emenalo explained Chelsea’s rationale.
"We don’t send players out because we are trying to recover money. We send them because we want them to play and develop, and monitor them."
This season’s loans will be the fifth for both Atsu and Piazon. How much more play, developing and monitoring does Chelsea need to make a decision?
Atsu and Piazon are 24 and 22 years old, respectively. Both have been at top-flight clubs since their teens, and have been at Chelsea since 2013 (Atsu) and 2011 (Piazon). While both are young enough to have long careers ahead of them, they are at the point where Chelsea’s coaches and scouts should be able to assess definitively their prospects for playing at Chelsea.
We had a short conversation on Twitter yesterday about Chelsea’s loan policy. The other person said that if it was so bad, Chelsea’s loanees would simply request a transfer and move on. This underestimates the confidence that young players have – and need to have – at that stage of their career. And at that stage of their career, who would not want to play for a world-class club like Chelsea? (well…….)
Players like Atsu, Piazon, Miazga and the rest of the 38 under age 25, believe that they will take the pitch at Stamford Bridge in the starting XI for a Premier League match. They fully believe this. They have to believe this. A lack of confidence on this simple point would torpedo their ability to come anywhere close to their goal.
But what is Chelsea’s accountability for instilling these players with false hopes, stringing them along until they are the next Loic Remy? Clubs, coaches and managers need to be the realists that balance the players’ idealism.
This does not entail giving them the Jose Mourinho treatment. It means delivering difficult news in a professional, direct and reassuring way, which will ultimately benefit the player’s long-term development and prospects. A player who is not Chelsea FC material will still have a powerful career in football at nearly any other first-tier club across Europe.
Next: David Luiz to Chelsea: Is he what the Blues need?
In the absence of a conclusive decision from Michael Emenalo and friends, only time will tell if Lucas Piazon, Christian Atsu and Matt Miazga will become first team regulars for Chelsea. Whatever happens, they’ll always have Vitesse.