Chelsea loan army: Keep, loan or sell? Izzy Brown (Part 30)

In Part 29 of this series, I broke down Armando Broja’s career at Chelsea and discussed what his future in football looks like. For those who haven’t read the introductory piece to this series, a different player will be the subject of a new article every day. I began with goalkeepers and am currently in the process of working my way up the pitch, with each position group being sorted in order by the way in which they appear on the club’s website.

As I move on with the loan army series, I continue the deep dive into the loan army forwards with Izzy Brown. I’m going to be honest, with how well-traveled Brown is and how familiar he is to Blues fans, I thought he was much older than he actually is. Just 24, Brown has been around the block a few times, but still has a lot of career ahead of him.

More from Chelsea FC Loan Watch

• Chelsea: The €30m January signing who will highly excel with Pochettino’s appointment
• Chelsea loan Army: How Ian Maatsen has got on at Burnley
• What’s next for Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher as asking price revealed?
• The next man up for Chelsea: Left back Ian Maatsen
• The next man up for Chelsea: Center forward Mason Burstow

What does Izzy Brown’s Chelsea career look like?

Brown’s budding career began in 2011 when he joined Leicester City. He spent less than a year with the Foxes before joining the youth academy at West Bromwich Albion. The versatile attacking talent—capable of playing attacking midfield, on the wings or up top—rose through the academy ranks at a rapid pace. In 2013, Brown became the second youngest Premier League player ever at 16 years and 117 days when he came on as a late sub against Wigan. It would go on to be Brown’s sole appearance for the Baggies before the wonderkid made a move to Chelsea.

The Blues didn’t officially call Brown up to their first team squad until February of 2015 when Jose Mourinho promoted he and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Despite being made a senior player a few days prior, Brown captained Chelsea’s U19 side to a UEFA Youth League title. His two goals earned him the Man of the Match award. Brown waited another month for his professional debut for the Blues, where he came on against his former club.

The youngster embarked on his first loan to Vitesse in the summer of 2015 alongside fellow Chelsea loanees Lewis Baker, Dominic Solanke and Nathan. Brown played in just under 30 matches with the Dutch side. Unlike his club teammates though, Brown didn’t stick around past that season. From there, he joined Rotherham United of the Championship for the upcoming season. It was in South Yorkshire with the Millers that Brown enjoyed his most successful loan stint to date. He played in 20 league matches, tallying eight goal contributions.

His three goals and five assists with Rotherham United saw him spend the second half of the year in England’s second division, as well. Brown joined Huddersfield Town after his loan at Rotherham United was terminated. The attacker went on to appear in 21 additional matches for the Terriers. He finished the season with the two Championship sides having played in 41 matches, where he scored eight goals and added six assists. Brown’s efforts saw Huddersfield Town promoted to the Premier League, but instead of remaining with the Terriers for the upcoming season, he joined newly promoted Brighton and Hove Albion.

Brown’s return to the Premier League was soured by injury in his first match. He took about two months to recover, but played an important role of the bench in the Seagulls’ squad upon returning. Brown played in 15 games before his season was abruptly ended by a torn ACL. He spent the next year and a half recovering, spending much of his time rehabbing with Leeds United. The youngster played in just two matches with the senior side, but was able to get back to full fitness with the U23s. Despite being a fan favorite, Brown left Leeds the following season.

In what was meant to be his first campaign back from injury, Brown joined Luton Town in the Championship for the 2019/20 season. He was a mainstay in the Hatters’ first team until a hamstring injury sidelined him for 10 weeks. Despite this, Brown was able to recover and finish the season healthy. He played in a total of 28 games, notching one goal and an impressive seven assists.

He returned to the Championship for a third consecutive season during the current campaign, this time with Sheffield Wednesday. Unfortunately, Brown has been a casualty of multiple managerial changes as the Owls find themselves facing the grim prospect of relegation from England’s second division. Brown has managed to get into the starting XI just five times in his 21 appearances. Furthermore, he has registered one assist as his lone goal contribution in about 650 minutes.

This begs the question: what does Chelsea do with Brown this summer?

Verdict: “Sell”

Brown is another youngster in the Blues’ loan army who has been incredibly unlucky with injuries. Eight years removed from his Premier League debut at 16, the attacker can seldom get a start in a side second-bottom of the Championship. Sheffield Wednesday has a buy clause in his contract, but the odds of the Owls triggering it are slim-to-none. Brown’s Chelsea contract expires at the end of June, so he’ll likely be left without a club for the time being upon returning from his latest disaster loan spell. Football is a cruel game sometimes and unfortunately Brown found that out the hard way. Still just 24, he’s got a long career ahead of him, but he’s simply no longer Chelsea standard.

Remember to check back with The Pride of London each and every day as I dive into the largely uncharted world of Chelsea’s famous loan army. Part 31’s subject is forward Kenedy.