Ola Aina is the latest Chelsea youngster not to get a chance in the senior squad. He will join Hull City on loan.
Ola Aina has passed his medical and completed a season long move to the recently relegated Hull City AFC. Aina will most likely be joined by a few more colleagues as Leonid Slutsky looks to fill out his decimated squad.
Ola Aina joined the club as an U-11 and has been at the club ever since. He broke into the U-18s as an U-16 and increasingly carved out a role for himself. His performances impressed and as a result he moved up over older candidates. He hasn’t looked back since then and played a key role in Chelsea’s recent success at various youth levels. He won back-to-back FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League trophies.
Aina’s performances impressed then manager Jose Mourinho who made the youngster a part of the first team squad for the 2015/16 season. Even though the defense was in serious disarray, Mourinho didn’t give the youngster any minutes. Aina was somewhat disillusioned and was willing to let his contract run out and leave on free. Liverpool were reportedly interested in snapping him up, as they did Dominic Solanke this summer.
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However, Aina ended up signing the contract extension and once again impressed new manager Antonio Conte in pre-season. The 20-year-old defender made a few late substitute appearances and had a couple of starts to his name. This summer, Conte has allowed the defender to leave on loan and get some valuable experience under his belt.
Hull City’s squad has been picked clean of Premier League quality players. The already small squad is in need of serious reinforcements. Manager Leonid Slutsky spent the better part of last season at Chelsea in an unofficial capacity. He has had the opportunity to observe Chelsea’s youngsters in action and has claimed that he’d like to take a few on loan.
With the impending departure of Andrew Robertson, Hull City are short more than a few defenders. Signing the very versatile Aina is a great move for the club. Aina can play anywhere across the backline. However, his strongest position would be as a rightback or right wingback. Aina is a strong dribbler, good crosser and is willing to get stuck in challenges. He is in a great position to be a focal point in Hull’s quest to return to the top flight.
Aina will be hoping to continue the streak of successes Chelsea loanees have had in the Championship and play a lot. Hull City will be looking to bounce straight back into the Premier League. The Championship is a hard physical slog. Fixtures come in thick and fast and demand a tremendous physical effort. This will be one of his biggest challenges as he has not made more than 10 competitive professional appearances in the past two seasons.
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Leonid Slutsky has a squad to fill and has claimed that he will take on two or three Chelsea players. He will be hoping that these talented youngsters will take to the Championship immediately and help him achieve his targets for the season.