Chelsea: Marcin Bulka wants a loan, Leeds need a keeper – this should be easy

Leeds United need a goalkeeper immediately to replace Jamal Blackman. Marcin Bulka wants a loan because he is getting no playing time at Chelsea. Sometimes the absurd depth of the loan army can be useful.

Jamal Blackman’s loan at Leeds United ended after two EFL Cup appearances, 87 minutes with the U23’s and a broken tibia. Blackman’s injury was doubly tragic because he was on the cusp of finally making a Championship start for Leeds. Bailey Peacock-Farrell conceded four goals to West Bromwich Albion, and then picked up an injury in training. Blackman’s ill-fated U23 game may have been sharpening him for a league start.

Meanwhile, Marcin Bulka is on the Callum Hudson-Odoi program at Chelsea. Preseason gave Bulka nearly as much hope as it did Hudson-Odoi. But then the season started, Maurizio Sarri saw how young Bulka is and the Blues signed Rob Green. Bulka – like Blackman – went from being a plausible and intelligent use of the third goalkeeper slot to being outside the fringes of the first team. But unlike Blackman, Bulka did not even get a loan.

Bulka is now in the pincer maneuver Chelsea applies to young players. He wants to play as much as possible and at as high level as possible. But his contract runs out at the end of the season. Chelsea will not discuss a second-half loan until he signs an extension.

Not too much about the current state of the loan army will encourage Bulka. Nor will the first team. Nor will the broader trend among Premier League clubs to have a goalkeeper in his prime as their starter and late-career players as their back-ups.

Kepa Arrizabalaga will be Chelsea’s starting goalkeeper for as long as he stays uninjured. If the Blues manage him well, that could be 10 or more years. Both by his performance and his transfer fee, Arrizabalaga is going nowhere.

The best hope for a young back-up goalkeeper would be the secondary competitions and in case of injury. But so far Maurizio Sarri has only played Willy Caballero in the EFL Cup. Presumably he will do the same in the FA Cup. Sarri has stayed with Arrizabalaga in the Europa League, even against the offensively non-threatening group stage opposition. Bulka’s “best” outcome with the first-team, then, would be playing 1-2 games a month against lower-level opposition or Premier League B-teams in the domestic cups.

Few Premier League clubs – particularly at the top – are taking the route of having a mid-career goalkeeper as their backup, or a young player as their third keeper. The trend is towards having both backups be over 30. This is constricting the supply of experienced goalkeepers who could come into a team like Leeds United, while also constricting the opportunity for minutes among young goalkeepers. It is also preventing someone from repeating Asmir Begovic’s path from bottom-half starter and top-six backup to top-half starter. Begovic has played every minute in the Premier League for Bournemouth this season, and the Cherries sit ambitiously in sixth place.

These factors all pile up against Marcin Bulka. If he wants to play in the Premier League he will have to go elsewhere to accumulate minutes and come back in a few years. Leeds United could get him started on that process immediately.

The biggest obstacle seems to be Chelsea’s unwillingness to do the right thing, which in this case is taking the form of interlocking a contract extension with a loan. Perhaps the compromise would be a promise of many loans for the duration of his extension. Bulka will not get what he needs at Chelsea regardless of the backup situation unless tragedy befalls Kepa Arrizabalaga. If the Blues can guarantee him a loan for each year of his contract, and actually monitor that loan to ensure playing time, it may justify his extended deployment in the loan army.

Otherwise, Marcin Bulka may be right to follow Harvey St. Clair and Jonathan Panzo out the door. Hopefully his minimal playing time as a Blue will not count against him in the transfer market, if it comes to that.