Chelsea, Tomas Kalas inexplicably think they still have a future together

Tomas Kalas was next up on the contract-and-loan conveyor belt moving through Stamford Bridge. Chelsea somehow convinced Kalas to start a four-year contract with his fourth year in the Championship.

Tomas Kalas came on in the second half of Chelsea’s pre-season opener against Arsenal, and then spent 90 minutes on the bench against Bayern Munich. Apparently that was enough to convince the once-young prospect that his star is still on the rise at Chelsea, so he signed a four-year contract and will return for another season on loan at Fulham.

Tomas Kalas is 24 years old with two (count ’em, two) games of Premier League experience dating back to 2013/14. Hopefully when Neil Bath laid out the 150 senior games mark as the new minimum for a Chelsea player, he was referring to all tiers of football and not just the top level. Because on the current trajectory, John Terry’s son Georgie will reach that mark before Kalas.

Kalas has not played top-flight football since 2013 at Vitesse. FC Koln wasted a half season of Kalas’ loan, prompting Chelsea to recall him and send him to the Championship at Middlesbrough. In his second year there he helped Middlesbrough promote to the Premier League.

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Perhaps he, Fulham and Chelsea think that the second year will again be the charm. He may even gain a reputation as a promotion specialist. If a Premier League team needs to stave off relegation, they bring in Sam Allardyce. If a Championship team needs that final push to get into the top flight, grab Tomas Kalas for a two-year loan.

All of which is a bit of gallows humour for Kalas’ career at Chelsea. After his first season at Middlesbrough he signed a three-year contract with the Blues in 2015. That should have been the “bridge contract” that would take him into Chelsea’s first team. Then, with his contract expiring in 2018 and a year of Premier League experience to his credit he could renegotiate terms or seek a transfer.

Instead, with one year left on that contract, he re-upped for four years. With consistent playing time he will have just over 200 games of senior football at the end of this season. But barely a third of that will be first-tier football, with Vitesse from 2011-2013.

If Chelsea insist on seeing him play at the top flight before bringing him into the squad, then he will have to spend the 2018/19 season on loan in the Premier League. But if Chelsea think that a 25-year old Tomas Kalas will be ready for the Premier League in a way that the 24-year old Kalas is not, what do they think will happen in that year that will make a 26-year old Tomas Kalas ready for a spot in Chelsea’s first team?

Antonio Conte acknowledged what many already knew, even if we try to deny it. Chelsea are in the business of buying established players. The Blues’ ambitions and the fans’ expectations preclude the Tottenham approach of promoting from with in to the exclusion of transfers.

A player has already proven his worth – and his Chelsea-grade credentials – well before he is 26 years old. Chelsea signed Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata on that premise.

Chelsea have not placed Tomas Kalas in the situations necessary for him to garner those credentials. If they believe he does not have the makings of a Chelsea player, but is a solid top-half of the Championship player, so be it. Not every player is Chelsea or Premier League material (Tomas Kalas is the latter, but that is not the point).

Tomas Kalas is now very much in the bind Nathaniel Chalobah likely wanted to avoid. Kalas could find himself transitioning from his mid- to late-20s without the top flight experience of his peers and competitors. The four-year contract places Kalas completely at the mercy of Chelsea’s loan system.

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Kalas could enter his next negotiation window with significantly less leverage with Chelsea or an interested buyer. Whatever Chelsea tells these players is remarkably convincing.