Chelsea: Ross Barkley’s loan the first move in what has to be a busy week

Ross Barkley has gone on loan to Aston Villa. This is the first move in what must be a busy week for Chelsea as several fringe players head out.

The transfer window is rapidly reaching its delayed conclusion. Chelsea got most of their business done early (and often) but almost all of it has been in the “in” column. The Blues still have a great deal of players to send out, and time is all too short.

Ross Barkley is first out the door during this lull between matches. With the Euros approaching, he did that old national team calculus and decided he needed to play to make the squad. He wasn’t wrong, though Villa on such short notice is an interesting move. Still, he should do well there and he is bound to get more minutes in claret and blue than just blue.

Starting with the most obvious outsiders, the ghosts of the 2017 summer transfer window linger. Tiemoue Bakayoko has been in the rumor mill all window despite the Blues’ clear need for a defensive midfielder. Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan have both been linked but nothing has happened. Danny Drinkwater is still around and there hasn’t been a peep about him, but surely the Blues don’t want to keep him with the academy side this season. Antonio Rudiger sits as perhaps the most expendable centerback at the moment and he too is surely doing the Euro calculus with Tottenham seeming interested.

Speaking of centerbacks, Rudiger may be the most expendable but he is not the only one Chelsea has considered a move for this window. Fikayo Tomori seems to be back in Frank Lampard’s good graces, but he has been touted for loan for a while. He needs minutes to develop and ultimately the concern is whether Chelsea has enough to go around. Kurt Zouma has not been in the rumors for some time and it would be foolish to sell the team’s best centerback, but there is a notion the club would part with him for the right price to fund a big centerback signing in the future. Meanwhile, Jake Clarke-Salter and Malang Sarr, both left footed, remain at the club with no movement for a loan rumored at the moment.

Kepa Arrizabalaga is seemingly around to fight for his spot with Edouard Mendy and (less so) Willy Caballero, but a loan move has been flouted in the press in the last week and it is not a terrible idea for a season. Nathan Baxter is also around and it would be very odd for him to not go out on loan after a few good years of it already.

It would be shocking to see both Marcos Alonso and Emerson remain at the club past this window. The former is being put out to pasture after his West Brom antics and the latter has been as close to a move without moving as anyone. It wouldn’t even be surprising to see both go and someone like Ian Maatsen step up when Cesar Azpilicueta can’t.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is probably the next on the move to continue his injury rehab with the missing piece: minutes on the pitch. It is surely going to be him or Jorginho and while Jorginho is ultimately the tougher fit, there are no buyers for the price Chelsea wants and Loftus-Cheek simply needs the minutes more.

After all of that there are still the odds and ends. Baba Rahman, Victor Moses, Marco van Ginkel, and Charly Musonda are all still around. Though they may be able to fill squad roles, it remains hard to see how any of them (bar maybe Moses) sneaks into Lampard’s plans for the season.

Last but certainly not least are the higher end academy guys ready for a move. Academy football has been a mess since Covid began and these kids need minutes. Mind, the Football League hasn’t been much better off but at least they are playing for now. Many of the players currently with the academy were on loan last year and remain in limbo as well.

And breathe. That is a lot to get done in less than a week. Barkley is but the first of many if the Blues don’t want to sit on a ton of players for no reason. The players won’t want to sit around till January either, so one way or another it will be a busy week.