Todd Kane’s pursuit of a Chelsea career takes him back to the Netherlands
By George Perry
Todd Kane will return to the Eredivisie for his first season of top-flight football since tearing his ACL. He will spend the year on loan at FC Groningen, perhaps testing the limits of his once searing ambition to play for Chelsea.
Fifteen months and a torn ACL ago, Todd Kane spoke about his desire to do at Chelsea “what you saw with Ryan Giggs and Manchester United.” Setting aside why he referenced Giggs and not John Terry, Kane’s unabashed ambition and loyalty was – and is – so much of what is lacking among Chelsea and the Premier League.
Kane did not mince words nor did he hedge his plans. He wanted to play for Chelsea, only Chelsea and would accept whatever loans were necessary to reach that point.
"I think it’s time for someone like myself or from the group of us who won the youth cup [to come through], and there will be a time when a few lads get into the team. When that’ll be I don’t know, but it will happen. – Goal.com"
However, Chelsea’s ambition do not allow them to wait for any player or to hold any sense of obligation. The club is in a vastly different place than they were when Kane spoke about his hopeful future.
Even without the injury and lost season, Kane’s path to the first team is more difficult than ever. Antonio Conte eliminated Kane’s right-back position in favour of three centre-backs across the defence. Kane would need to become a centre-back or a wing-back to even have a place on the pitch.
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More significantly, since Kane’s injury while on loan at NEC Nijmegen, Chelsea have added to their defenders and will continue to do so. They purchased David Luiz last year, welcomed Kurt Zouma back from injury, will add Andreas Christensen and will likely buy an experienced centre-back.
Todd Kane must not like his chances after seeing Bertrand Traore, Nathan Ake and Dominic Solanke leave Chelsea in the last month. He may take some solace from the fact that he is still in the loan army. However, that is likely because Chelsea want to restore his market value with a strong post-injury season.
"Unless I get the boot, I’m not going anywhere. If clubs in the Championship come in for me, and I’m sure there will be a few, I wouldn’t do it. If there was a club in Europe, I’d choose that over the Championship."
His perspective may have been distorted when he was plucked from Chelsea’s reserve team to travel to Munich for the Champions League final in 2012. Despite that hopefuly moment, Kane has yet to play in the Premier League. He had a series of loans in League One and the Championship before making his top-flight debut at NEC Nijmagen in the Eredivisie.
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Kane will need a nearly impossible amount of luck on top of a standout season at FC Groningen to garner even a look-in next summer. He will be 24 at the end of this, his seventh, loan. His loyalty to the Blues will at some point come up against the need for stability and pursuit of building a career with a club.