Dujon Sterling is linked with a loan to Wigan, with all parties involved hoping his season there will go much as Reece James’ did last year. This rumour is the latest sign Chelsea are building a cadre of trusted loan destinations.
Vitesse just isn’t what it used to be, at least not for Chelsea loanees. Not long ago Vitesse was “Chelsea B” for the number and quality of the young Blues sent there for a season or two. Mason Mount is on the verge of completing the path that led from Cobham through Arnhem to Stamford Bridge (with a stop in Derby County, of course), and is currently the most prominent of the Vitesse ex’s. But Tomas Kalas, Bertrand Traore, Dominic Solanke, Patrick Van Aanholt, Matt Miazga and many others going all the way back to Nemanja Matic also spent time there.
More recently, though, Vitesse has lost its prime status in the loan system. Last year’s crop was Jake Clarke-Salter, Eduardo and the first year of a two-year hopeful-but-not-optimistic redemptive loan for Charly Musonda.
Other clubs closer to home have overtaken Vitesse atop the loan system pyramid. Bristol City parlayed their success with Tammy Abraham in 2016/17 into taking Tomas Kalas, Jay DaSilva and Kasey Palmer last season. Kalas and Dasilva became permanent Robins this summer, and Palmer is strongly linked with a return.
Kurt Zouma had a solid season at Everton, who are now lining up a loan for Fikayo Tomori since Chelsea are wisely not willing to sell Zouma. Tomori spent last season on loan at Derby County with Mount, and the Rams are waiting to see who they can pick up from the fringe of Frank Lampard’s first Blues squad.
Reece James was one of the Blues’ best loans last season. He won almost every end-of-season honour at Wigan, and even captained a game at the end of the season in a remarkable show of respect.
Once he recovers from his broken ankle, James will be a regular in the matchday squad and perhaps the starting XI, depending on how Lampard rates Cesar Azpilicueta as a left-back over his two actual left-backs. James will not be going back out on loan, but both Chelsea and Wigan are interested in continuing their relationship via Dujon Sterling.
Sterling spent last season at Coventry City, his first loan. He was among the first eight players Lampard sent back from the preseason tour, departing after the first game in Ireland.
His return was more about his age and the squad depth than his performance or potential. It seemed unusual to send a young player back so early instead of letting him pick up first-team training and playing experience. Lampard and his staff knew Sterling was not going to be near the first-team this season, and they needed to see as much as they could from those players about whom they had to make more difficult decisions. Sterling’s preseason exit was much more “see you later” than “bye, Dujon.”
Sterling has been highly regarded throughout his time at the academy. Progressing from Coventry City to Wigan is just that: progress. It also affirms an important relationship for Chelsea. Wigan showed their willingness to develop their Chelsea charge last season, which moved them up in the pecking order of loan destinations. Because of how they handled Reece James, the Blues are comfortable entrusting them with Dujon Sterling.
At times during the Michael Emenalo era it seemed like Chelsea were scattering their loanees willy-nilly. Other than Vitesse, they did not have a reliable destination for their best players to develop, let alone use as path into the first team (not that there was much of a path to the first team from any direction).
Their few loan system successes did not track with any sort of pattern. Andreas Christensen had two successful years at Borussia Monchengladbach before coming into the first team. The only other player Chelsea have loaned to Monchengladbach has been Thorgan Hazard, who was never really in line for the first team. Victor Moses bounced all over the Premier League before becoming a regular, and that had as much to do with Antonio Conte’s tactical shift as anything Moses did at Liverpool, Stoke or West Ham.
Nor did Chelsea have a good record of using loan clubs as a potential permanent destination for their loanees. Tomas Kalas and Lucas Piazon both had the rug pulled out from under them after helping Fulham earn promotion. Isaiah Brown and Kasey Palmer had similar scenarios at Huddersfield.
But now the Blues are turning the corner here, too. They sold Kalas and Dasilva to their most recent loan club. Mario Pasalic is well-positioned to make a permanent transfer to Atalanta next season. And the Blues received many other inquiries about converting various loans after last season.
This is the way to operate a loan system. Each loan builds into the next one, and the pipeline for a given player leads somewhere: either a forever home or a spot in Chelsea’s first team.
Loaning Dujon Sterling to Wigan is a desirable move for both clubs and Sterling himself. As long as Wigan are able and willing to use Chelsea’s young players towards their own ambitions, the Blues should be happy to have them in the rotation.