The 41 Chelsea players out on loan this season hoping for a chance next season
Chelsea‘s transfer ban has led to suggestions some of the club’s younger players who currently find themselves out on loan could be given a chance to impress for the Blues next term.
The Blues plan to appeal the two-window ban, but a number of their players who find themselves on the fringes will be hoping this might open a door for them into the first team.
We’ve taken a look at the 41 players currently on loan from Stamford Bridge to see if any of them are impressing enough to warrant first-team football.
Lewis Baker
“My conscience tells me that if, for example, Baker, (Izzy) Brown, and (Dominic) Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself,” Jose Mourinho said while Chelsea boss in 2014.
The first of three Chelsea players to join Leeds in the summer, Baker failed to make an impact at Elland Road – a recurring theme of his career – and so joined Reading until the end of the season in January.
Baker is playing more regularly for the Royals, but we’re beginning to see a pattern here.
Exactly the same conclusion we drew. Not terrible, not good, just sort of there. https://t.co/6ixn4qLIwi
— The Square Ball (@TheSquareBall) February 17, 2019
Izzy Brown
After helping Huddersfield win promotion in 2015-16, Brown was expected to make the step up to the Premier League last season on loan at Brighton.
A torn ACL halted the 21-year-old’s progress, and he has now dropped back down to the Championship with Leeds.
In a unique agreement, the Whites did not have to start footing the bill until the attacking midfielder was fit to play. While he is still awaiting his first appearance, this month has seen him named on the bench for the first time.
Nathan Baxter
A 20-year-old goalkeeper, Baxter has been a mainstay of a Yeovil team battling against relegation from League Two.
Trevoh Chalobah
The younger brother of Nathaniel, Chalobah was part of the England team that won the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championships and has already been invited to train with Gareth Southgate’s senior squad.
The 19-year-old is now enjoying regular first-team football at Ipswich Town. We say ‘enjoying’, Ipswich have been rooted to the bottom of the Championship for the majority of the season.
Reece James
In June, Wigan replaced former Manchester United full-back Reece James by signing 18-year-old full-back Reece James on loan from Chelsea.
Thirty-three appearances in all competitions represent a promising start to James’ first taste of first-team football.
Don’t care what we do with CHO, but Chelsea can’t drop the ball on Reece James. He’s the truth.
— Warsame (@W4RSAME) February 22, 2019
Dujon Sterling
Like James, Sterling is getting his first experience of regular first-team football after moving to Coventry on loan.
The 18-year-old defender has won a host of honours for club and country at youth level, and Antonio Conte handed the youngster two substitute appearances in the League Cup last term.
Jake Clarke-Salter
Speaking about Clarke-Salter in 2016 after the youngster made his Premier League debut against Aston Villa, John Terry said: “Jake has a great attitude. I remember watching him a couple of years ago being in control of the game and a really vocal player. He reminds me a bit of myself.”
Spells at Bristol Rovers and Sunderland have been mixed for the Under-20 World Cup winner, and he is now going through the rite of passage at Vitesse.
Eduardo
It was an interesting summer for veteran goalkeeper Eduardo, who was released by Chelsea at the end of last season.
Come July, he was rejoining the Blues on a one-year deal, only to be immediately loaned out to Vitesse.
Still, the former Portugal international’s departure ensured Chelsea went on to sign Rob Green, so we should all be thankful.
Kenedy
The Brazilian has failed to replicate the form which made him so popular at Newcastle last season after returning to St James’ Park for a second spell.
Todd Kane
Remarkably, still a Chelsea player. Remarkably, still only 24.
An eighth loan move has taken Kane to Hull, and he is close to making this his most prolific season in terms of appearances.
After scoring against former Chelsea team-mate Frank Lampard’s Derby County, Kane told the Hull Daily Mail: “He just said, ‘What are you doing scoring against my team?’ I said, ‘You taught me.’”
Mason Mount
Mount is one of English football’s most exciting prospects and could hardly be learning under a more suitable role model than Lampard at Derby.
If only someone had written at length about that…
READ: Mason Mount: Chelsea’s greatest hope in the best possible place
Fikayo Tomori
Part of England’s Under-20 World Cup winning side, Tomori is now onto his third consecutive loan move to the Championship after spells with Brighton and Hull.
The 20-year-old defender has joined Mount and Lampard at Derby, playing regularly, although rather awkwardly scoring an own goal against his parent club in the League Cup.
Kurt Zouma
It seems a long time since Zouma looked such a promising prospect before suffering a serious knee injury.
Now 24, an unhappy loan spell at Stoke last season ended in relegation, but Everton were reportedly keen to make the centre-back’s loan spell a permanent deal – although it remains to be seen how the west Londoner’s transfer ban will affect those plans.
Tomas Kalas
Just f*cking sell him, lads. Like Kane, Kalas is onto his eight loan spell away from Chelsea and can now be found at Bristol City. *insert Alan Partridge shrug gif here*
Michael Hector
Just f*cking sell him, lads. We still can’t understand why Chelsea bought Hector in the first place.
Joining Sheffield Wednesday is his fourth loan move in three years at Stamford Bridge and the fifteenth of his career overall.
Matt Miazga
Just f*c….
You get where we’re going with this. Miazga was due to spend the season at Nantes, only to return in January and be sent out to Reading alongside Lewis Baker.
Kenneth Omeruo
Since joining Chelsea, Omeruo has won over 40 international caps for Nigeria, won the African Cup of Nations and played in two World Cups.
He is yet to appear for the Blues but has turned out for ADO Den Haag, Middlesbrough, Kasimpasa and Alanyaspor, with his latest move taking him to Leganes.
Baba Rahman
It’s easy to forget – Chelsea fans might want to – but Rahman actually played over 20 times for the Blues in 2015-16.
The Ghana international still had six months to run on an 18-month loan deal at Schalke but returned to Stamford Bridge in January, and was promptly sent packing to Reims, who are challenging for a European place in France.
Ola Aina
Derby and West Brom were both interested in signing Aina in the summer, but the full-back instead decided to test himself in Serie A by joining Torino.
Manager Walter Mazarri is clearly impressed by the 21-year-old, saying: “He is like a sponge, he absorbs everything and is so intelligent. If he improves physically, he can become a truly important player.”
Earlier this month he scored his first goal for Torino, bagging the winner against Udinese.
Tiemoue Bakayoko
Among a host of central midfielders at Chelsea’s disposal, the arrival of Maurizio Sarri as manager, plus the signings of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, spelled the end for Bakayoko, who struggled to adapt to English football in his debut campaign for the Blues.
The midfielder, who shone at Monaco, has joined AC Milan, with an option for the deal to be made permanent for a €35million fee in the summer. Milan are keen to take up that option with Bakayoko shining after a slow start.
Mario Pasalic
Now 23, Pasalic’s CV boasts the likes of Chelsea, Milan, Monaco, Spartak Moscow and now Atalanta.
Despite being a full Croatia international, the midfielder has never actually appeared for Chelsea, although we quite fancy spending a year living in each of those cities.
Charly Musonda
January 2017: Musonda returns to Chelsea after a promising spell at Real Betis and is tipped for a bright future.
May 2018: Musonda returns to Chelsea after an 18-month loan deal at Celtic is cut short having made only eight appearances.
August 2018: Musonda joins Vitesse on a season-long loan.
Danilo Pantic
Chelsea signed an 18-year-old Pantic in a £1.25million deal from Partizan Belgrade in 2015, but the midfielder failed to impress in loan spells at Vitesse and Excelsior.
The Serbia youth international is now back at Partizan for a second consecutive season. It might have been easier if he had just remained there in the first place.
Nathan
Yet to play for Chelsea, three years after leaving Atletico Paranaense to move to London, Nathan has returned to his native Brazil with Atletico Mineiro.
He’s never going to play for Chelsea, is he?
Michy Batshuayi
We have a soft spot for strikers who contribute little else apart from putting the ball in the back of the net, which means we have a big soft spot for Batshuayi.
A loan move to Borussia Dortmund in the second half of 2017-18 proved productive, but the 24-year-old’s summer move to Valencia failed to ignite and he now finds himself at Crystal Palace.
READ: Ranking the 19 strikers Chelsea have signed under Roman Abramovich
Tammy Abraham
Twice capped by England, much was expected of Abraham after he bagged 26 goals in all competitions on loan at Bristol City in 2016-17.
The 20-year-old has returned to the Championship with Aston Villa after a difficult season at Swansea in which he scored five times as the Welsh outfit suffered relegation.
Such has been Abraham’s impact at Villa – 20 goals to date – Wolves attempted to sign the striker in January.
Kasey Palmer
Chelsea signed Palmer as a 16-year-old from Charlton in 2013, but the closest he has come to the Blues’ first team so far was when he was an unused substitute against Swansea in 2016.
The England Under-21 midfielder spent 2016-17 on loan at Huddersfield, helping them win promotion to the Premier League, and he returned to Yorkshire the following season, making four appearances in the top flight.
However, his loan was terminated in January, allowing him to drop back into the Championship with Derby, and he returned to the second tier this season, spending the first half of the campaign at Blackburn before moving to Bristol City.
Bradley Collins
After spending last season at Forest Green, the 22-year-old goalkeeper has been a regular for Burton Albion this term but is out of contract at Stamford Bridge at the end of the season.
Burton boss Nigel Clough was asked whether there had been any indication of whether they could sign Collins on a permanent deal recently, but replied: “No not yet. It’s all in Chelsea’s hands at the moment.”
Jared Thompson
Being on loan at Warrenpoint Town in Northern Ireland suggests the 19-year-old probably isn’t ready for the rigours of Premier League football.
Karlo Ziger
We have never actually heard of Ziger but are delighted to discover the goalkeeper is on loan at Sutton, following in the proud footsteps of the pie-eating stopper Wayne Shaw.
Jay Dasilva
Signed from Luton in 2012 alongside his brothers Cole and Rio, Jay is the only one to remain at Chelsea, although the left-back has been in and out of Bristol City’s first team this season.
Fankaty Dabo
After spending the last two seasons on loan at Swindon and Vitesse, Dabo returned to Holland in the summer to join Sparta Rotterdam but has made just seven starts in the Dutch second tier.
Josh Grant
Grant trained with Chelsea’s first team under Antonio Conte last term, but the 20-year-old defender was sent to League Two strugglers Yeovil in January.
Victorien Angban
A season at Metz represents the fourth loan spell away from Chelsea for Angban, and the midfielder has made 17 appearances in France’s second tier.
Josimar Quintero
A former Barcelona academy player, Quintero is spending the season on loan at Lleida Esportiu. We had to look them up. They’re in the Spanish third division apparently.
Jacob Maddox
Signed from Bristol City in 2013, the England youth international has featured regularly for Cheltenham in League Two.
Kylian Hazard
At least if Eden Hazard does leave Chelsea in the summer, they will be able to call upon the services of another Hazard.
Admittedly, Kylian isn’t the good one – reports suggest Borussia Dortmund are lining up Thorgan as a replacement for Christian Pulisic – and his failure to nail down a place in
READ: Pulisic’s replacement? How the ‘other’ Hazards are faring this term
Christian Pulisic
A good player. Maybe not as good as Jadon Sancho, but still.
READ: FM19 sims Christian Pulisic’s next three years at Chelsea – and three at Liverpool
Victor Moses
Given he’d only played 26 minutes of Premier League football this season anyway, it had completely passed us by that Moses had joined Fenerbahce on loan in January, making it his fourth temporary spell away from Stamford Bridge.
It took just two appearances for the Nigeria international to get off the mark for his new club, scoring off the bench in a 2-0 win over Goztepe.
Alvaro Morata
Back in Spain after an unhappy 18 months in England, VAR has so far stopped Morata opening his account for Atletico Madrid, but the striker has slotted straight into Diego Simeone’s starting XI.
Lucas Piazon
Twenty-five-years-old. Thirty-one minutes of Serie A football for Chievo. Zero goals.
We can’t wait to see Piazon fluke his way into Chelsea’s first team next season.
More Chelsea
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Mason Mount: Chelsea’s greatest hope in the best possible place