How each of Chelsea’s 49 loanees have fared in the 2018-19 season

Quick Reads

It’s essentially a given that if you’re a Chelsea player under the age of 23, you’ll have been loaned out at least once.

In recent years, though, we haven’t even had that age cut-off. If you’re a Chelsea player, you’re more likely to be loaned out than not.

The 2018-19 campaign has seen the Blues use 24 different players in the Premier League, while 41 have been sent out on loan. However, if the club’s transfer ban is upheld, some of the following players might find themselves in with a chance of first-team action sooner rather than later.

Tammy Abraham

Not just one of the best Chelsea loanees in the Championship but one of the best strikers in the division altogether.

The England international scored 26 goals for Aston Villa – only Norwich City’s Teemu Pukki scored more in the second tier – after it looked at one point like Abraham would be making a switch to Wolves in January.

Surely the Premier League beckons in 2019-20, though Olivier Giroud’s new Chelsea deal means it might not be in a blue shirt. If he helps Villa win the play-off final, perhaps he’ll stick around.

Ola Aina

Aina added himself to the growing number of Englishmen abroad when he opted to join Torino, despite interest from the Championship, and it has paid off for the full-back.

The 22-year-old, who was given a handful of run-outs by Antonio Conte in the Premier League, has started more than half the Serie A club’s games and scored once for Walter Mazzarri’s men during a successful season which almost ended in a surprise run to the Champions League places.

Victorien Angban

The Ivorian teenager was tipped for big things during his teenage years, but – in a familiar story – has failed to break through at Chelsea.

He has spent the last season on loan at Metz in Ligue 2, impressing enough in the title run for the French club to exercise their option to sign him permanently.

Tiemoué Bakayoko

Bakayoko might have struggled at Chelsea, but his form at Monaco before that was no fluke, and he has impressed in Milan after taking a while to get going.

The Frenchman has made 25 starts and could well make a permanent move if Milan creep into the Champions League – although publicly telling Gennaro Gattuso to “f*ck off” recently may have dented such hopes.

If not, though, Chelsea could do worse than give him another chance in the Premier League.

Lewis Baker

This was meant to be the season where the England Under-21 midfielder kicked on and proved himself to be deserving of a first-team chance at Stamford Bridge, but it didn’t really happen for him.

Baker began the season at Leeds, where he was unfortunate to come up against stiff competition and a winning team that he was unable to penetrate.

He got more action at Reading after the turn of the year, scoring once in 19 games and helping the Royals avoid the drop, but it’ll still go down as a relatively underwhelming season.

Michy Batshuayi

It has been a season of two halves for Batshuayi, who would rather we didn’t dwell on his few months with Valencia.

Since moving to Crystal Palace in January the Belgian has rediscovered his goalscoring touch, culminating in a two-goal display on the final day of the season.

Five goals in 11 games is the same number as either of Álvaro Morata or Gonzalo Higuaín managed in more appearances, and more than Olivier Giroud in the league.

Nathan Baxter

After spending the 2017-18 season on loan at non-league Woking, young goalkeeper Baxter got his first taste of league football with a move to League Two Yeovil Town.

Unfortunately, the campaign ended in a second straight relegation for Baxter, with the Glovers finishing bottom of the pyramid with 40 points from their 46 games.

There were positives on a personal level, though. After playing 34 times in the league, Baxter won multiple Player of the Year awards at the club’s end-of-season ceremony.

Jamal Blackman

Went to Leeds, started out as second choice keeper, got close to a first team bow, broke his leg, returned to Chelsea without playing a competitive minute.

Izzy Brown

Another Leeds loanee, Brown has been working his way back from a serious knee injury and only managed two late substitute appearances for the Championship high-flyers.

The second of those, in the play-off semi-final defeat to Derby County, saw him unable to influence the result, but we’re not sure what Marcelo Bielsa was expecting.

That Premier League debut for West Brom in 2013 must feel like a very, very, very long time ago.

Trevoh Chalobah

Another player to impress in a struggling side, Chalobah was initially expected to feature at centre-back for Ipswich but soon became a fixture in midfield for the Championship side.

The 19-year-old younger brother of former Blues midfielder Nathaniel played more than 40 times for the Tractor Boys, placing third in the vote for Supporters’ Player of the Year, but was unable to prevent the team from finishing bottom of the league.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in the second tier next season, and an eventual first-team breakthrough at Chelsea isn’t out of the question.

Jake Clarke-Salter

Yes, we’ve got to C before finding a player on loan at Vitesse, but Clarke-Salter has pulled his weight in Arnhem.

The centre-back played 28 games for the Eredivisie club, scoring on his debut and forming a consistent partnership with Maikel van der Werff as Leonid Slutsky’s side ended the season in fifth, ensuring European football in the next campaign.

One of three Blues to spend the year with the Dutch club, and probably the most likely to play Premier League football off the back of his performances there.

Charlie Colkett

It’s a very Chelsea name isn’t it, Charlie Colkett. Rolls off the tongue.

Spent the first half of the season in Shrewsbury but decided it wasn’t cold enough there, so moved to Östersunds in January. He’s done alright in Sweden, too, playing 10 times and scoring once.

Brad Collins

Young goalkeeper Collins has been a regular in League One, spending the season with newly-relegated Burton Albion and taking the place of veteran Stephen Bywater in the starting line-up.

The 22-year-old came second in the vote for the club’s Player of the Season award, with one of the highlights coming in the form of a clean sheet in the shock win at Middlesbrough in the League Cup quarter-finals.

Jay Dasilva

The defender has stepped up to the Championship this season, spending a season at Bristol City, and has played in about half of their games under Lee Johnson.

City have an option to sign Dasilva this summer, and a fair few Robins fans would probably be okay with that.

Fankaty Dabo

London-born defender Dabo is still waiting for his Chelsea debut, but this season saw him take a step in the wrong direction with a move to Sparta Rotterdam in the Dutch second tier.

The loan destination suggests he didn’t do enough in his 26 games for Vitesse in 2017-18, though he has at least played another 20+ times for Sparta.

Eduardo

The second of the three Vitesse loanees, Eduardo was a near ever-present in goal after joining in the summer of 2018.

The Portuguese veteran has spent three years as a Chelsea player without playing a competitive minute for the London club and is out of contract this summer so we shouldn’t expect him to add to that tally.

Josh Grant

After playing his part in England’s 2017 Toulon Tournament success, we might have expected Grant to play for Chelsea’s first-team by now.

However, while former Under-20 team-mates Harvey Barnes and Josh Tymon have stepped up to the Premier League with their respective clubs, he is still waiting.

The defender spent the 2018-19 season with Yeovil Town in League Two, playing in front of fellow Chelsea loanee Nathan Baxter, but managed just a dozen appearances for the Glovers in an injury-hit campaign.

Kylian Hazard

The Belgian youngster will join Cercle Brugge permanently in the summer after doing enough in this season’s loan spell.

He might not be the only member of his family to leave the club in 2019.

Michael Hector

Hector was loaned out more than 10 times by Reading before even arriving at Stamford Bridge, so at least he’s used to this kind of treatment.

He has played 37 times for Sheffield Wednesday, scoring a penalty on the final day of the season to bring his goal tally up to two. At least he can do that, I guess.

Still waiting for his Chelsea debut, obviously.

Reece James

One o the biggest success stories of the lot, James started all but two of Wigan’s Championship games and was one of the best performers in the division, let alone at the DW Stadium.

James, who can play at full-back or in midfield, was the runaway winner of the Latics’ Player of the Year award with 96% of the vote and was one of only four players from outside the top three clubs to be named in the Championship team of the season.

Since returning from Wigan, he has trained with the first team and could well end up in the mix for first-team action at Chelsea next season.

Tomáš Kalas

Five years on from his debut in the Gerrard slip game, Kalas is still a Chelsea player. Technically, at least.

The Czech defender was treated to a fourth straight season in the Championship, following campaigns at Middlesbrough and Fulham with a switch to Bristol City.

He did fine at Ashton Gate, playing 38 times in the league, but one wonders whether Fulham could have done with him in the top-flight after conceding a league-high 81 goals.

Todd Kane

Yes, he’s still a Chelsea player, despite reaching the age of 25 without playing a minute for the club.

Ironically, the Englishman joined Hull on loan after the Tigers lost full-back option Max Clark to perennial Chelsea loan destination Vitesse, and Kane has cemented himself in the first-team throughout the season.

He has scored three goals in 39 games, including an out-of-character brace against West Brom, but we imagine others are ahead of him in the queue for a Chelsea breakthrough.

Kenedy

We’ll be honest with you, we’d forgotten Kenedy was still at Newcastle. His last Premier League start came on Boxing Day in a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool, and he has played just 131 league minutes in 2019.

A late penalty miss in the goalless draw with Cardiff in August set the tone for the Brazilian’s season, and he wasn’t even able to match the two-goal tally from his 13 Newcastle appearances in 2017-18.

We’re not sure what’s next for the Brazilian, who has played just one league game for Chelsea since the start of the 2016-17 campaign.

Jacob Maddox

Coming up to six years on Chelsea’s books without playing a Premier League minute.

Not to be confused with Jacob Mellis, who spent five years on Chelsea’s books without playing a Premier League minute.

Twenty-year-old midfielder Maddox, who joined the Blues in his teens, has played 38 times for Cheltenham Town in League Two.

Matt Miazga

Didn’t honk anyone’s dick this season, which feels like an improvement.

Made a minimal impact for Nantes, but was better after joining Reading in January.

Álvaro Morata

Farmed off to Atlético Madrid in the same month that Gonzalo Higuaín moved to London, the Spaniard has done more back home than in England.

Admittedly, six league goals is only one more than the tally he finished on at Chelsea, but he’s also played his way back into international contention.

For this reason, if no other, he’ll surely want to make sure the 75 minutes he played against Nottingham Forest in January end up being his last in a Chelsea shirt.

Victor Moses

Having barely got a look-in after Cesar Azpilicueta returned to his natural right-back role, Moses decided to try his luck with Fenerbahçe after the turn of the year.

The Nigeria international scored in his second game for the Turkish club, in a win over Göztepe, as Fener dragged themselves away from a surprise relegation battle in the second half of the campaign.

He’s under contract with Chelsea until 2021, but you’d imagine he doesn’t see much of a future for himself if Maurizio Sarri sticks around.

Mason Mount

Mount has thrived at Derby County under Frank Lampard, even earning a senior England call-up in the process.

The midfielder has played 35 league games, scoring eight times, and hasn’t moaned when having to drop a little deeper than the role in which he started the campaign.

He’ll have a chance to perform in front of even more eyes when Derby take on Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final.

Charly Musonda

When Musonda moved out to Vitesse on loan, he was hoping to build on a disappointing spell at Celtic which was cut short after just eight games.

He barely managed eight minutes in the Eredivisie, though, after picking up a knee injury in a friendly. He finally made his debut in May, coming off the bench in a 6-1 win over De Graafschap.

Nathan

You’d forgotten about him, hadn’t you?

Nathan joined Chelsea a few days after compatriot Kenedy in 2015 but is currently in the midst of his fourth loan spell away from the club.

The latest move has taken him back to Brazil with Atlético Mineiro. Maybe he’ll stay there.

Kenneth Omeruo

There aren’t a ton of players who Chelsea fans might argue are actually good enough for a first-team spot. However, if Omeruo isn’t one of them now, he certainly has been at some point.

The 25-year-old defender is at the age where he should be playing regular top-flight football, and to be fair he is – just not for Chelsea.

Omeruo now has 44 caps for Nigeria, ensuring he’s more than just potential, and was a regular for Leganes as former Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino kept the Spanish side in La Liga.

Kasey Palmer

Another of the loan army to split his season between two clubs, Palmer began the campaign with Blackburn before heading south to join Bristol City.

The midfielder scored five goals across the two spells, but won’t have considered his season an unqualified success, certainly not compared to his performances during Huddersfield’s 2016-17 promotion charge.

A missed opportunity. Well, two missed opportunities, to be precise.

Danilo Pantić

2015: Chelsea sign Pantić from Partizan.

2017: Chelsea loan Pantić to Partizan.

2018: Chelsea loan Pantić to Partizan. Again. He’s played more than 60 games across the two loan spells, and scored in a Europa League qualifying game against Rudar Pljevlja.

Mario Pašalić

Pašalić is the Croatian midfielder who has been loaned out by Chelsea, not to be confused for Mateo Kovačić, the Croatian midfielder who has been loaned in by Chelsea.

He has arguably done better than Kovačić, too, playing his part for Serie A surprise package Atalanta as they chase a top-four spot.

Seventeen starts, 15 sub appearances, four goals and four assists isn’t a bad return, and Atalanta haven’t lost with Pašalić in the team since the end of February.

Lucas Piazon

His contract is finally up this summer! He can finally leave!

And, after just three games during a loan spell with Chievo (all from the bench; Chievo scored no goals across the three games and relegated after dropping eight points behind the 19th place team), it’s unlikely he’ll be missed on the pitch.

Christian Pulisic

One who almost certainly will feature next season, the American was allowed to see out the campaign at Borussia Dortmund after agreeing a big-money move to Chelsea back in January.

He has scored four times since January – more than he managed in the first half of the season – and his early opener against Werder Bremen was very nice indeed.

READ: Christian Pulisic scored a goal so quick even Jadon Sancho couldn’t keep up

Josimar Quintero

Ecuadorian midfielder Quintero has spent time at Betis B and, more recently, with Lleida Esportiu in the Spanish lower leagues.

This might be alright if he was a teenager, but he’s 22. We can’t see him displacing Maurizio Sarri’s favourites, sorry.

Baba Rahman

Yup, he’s still at Chelsea.

The Ghana left-back was signed for Chelsea by José Mourinho, and his last Premier League game came against newly-crowned champions Leicester City, if you want an idea of how long it’s been.

Started the season and Schalke and ended it at Reims, if you want an idea of how well it’s going now.

Joao Rodríguez

Chelsea’s first ever Colombian hasn’t done that much worse than compatriot Falcao, despite never actually playing for the club.

2018-19 saw him embark on a ninth loan spell, spending a year with Tenerife in Spain’s Segunda División. One goal in 13 games for the strugglers isn’t what he’d have wanted.

Ruben Sammut

The internet tells us the Scottish youth international could still declare for England, which seems ambitious, or Malta, which seems more realistic.

The midfielder spent the first half of the season on loan with Falkirk. The deal was not extended.

Kyle Scott

Kyle Scott is American. Kyle Scott was loaned by Chelsea to Telstar in the Dutch second tier. Kyle Scott played 14 games in that division and scored twice.

One of those strikes was a go-ahead goal against Go Ahead Eagles, which has a nice symmetry to it.

Dujon Sterling

Young defender Sterling was handed a Chelsea debut by Antonio Conte before the club decided he would benefit from a loan move this season.

Coventry City was the destination, and the teenager played 40 times in all competitions as the Sky Blues fell just short of a play-off spot.

The right-back provided five assists for team-mates, with the club picking up 11 points from the five games in question.

Jared Thompson

On loan at Warrenpoint Town, having previously spent time with Chippenham. Not sure the goalkeeper will ever make it at Stamford Bridge.

Fikayo Tomori

Like Mount, defender Tomori has looked good for Derby as they earned a top-six finish in the Championship.

The 21-year-old has been a near ever-present, with his sole league goal coming in a dramatic 4-3 victory at Norwich around the turn of the year.

An own goal against Chelsea in the League Cup wasn’t ideal, but the England Under-21 man will be hopeful of eventually scoring in a Chelsea shirt.

Frank-Lampard-Derby-County-celebrates-Leeds-United

READ: 11 of the best quotes on Frank Lampard the manager, ft Klopp, Mount, Wilson

Ike Ugbo

The 20-year-old forward played for England’s Under-17s in Toulon in 2017 and followed that up last season with a smattering of games in England’s second and third tiers.

In 2018-19, he spent the first half of the campaign with League One Scunthorpe United, playing 16 times. The club sat 21st in the table when he returned to Chelsea, and finished the season in 23rd after losing seven of their last nine games.

No one can really be happy with any of that.

Ethan Wady

The American goalkeeper finished the season on loan at Tooting & Mitcham United. Good for him.

Jack Wakely

The Under-18 captain was handed a stint at Basingstoke Town after the turn of the year but seems unlikely to improve on the goal he scored in a Chelsea shirt back in the autumn.

Karlo Ziger

At Sutton United, apparently. Hasn’t eaten a pie on camera, at least not to our knowledge.

Kurt Zouma

It’s fair to say this went better than expected. Back in August, a loan move to Everton looked like a last chance for Zouma after he failed to arrest Stoke City’s slide into the Championship.

The Frenchman arrived in the same window as Yerry Mina and just a year after big-money arrival Michael Keane, but the loanee was a staple throughout the season with 32 league appearances under Marco Silva.

If Chelsea are forced to rely on some of their loan army, Zouma at least knows what it’s like to be a Premier League regular.

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