According to reports in Spain, Chelsea have offered 10 players to Spanish side Real Betis for potential loan spells in the coming campaign.
Last season, Chelsea had an astonishing 37 players out on loan at various European clubs, with five of them switching mid-season to other clubs. Some notable names like Andreas Christensen, Marco van Ginkel and Nathan Ake excelled out on loan, while others didn’t fare as well.
Charly Musonda was loaned to Spanish side Real Betis towards the end of the January transfer window in a bid to further his development. His spell in Spain proved to be a huge success, as the talented Belgian won the Man Of The Match award in his first game with the club and instantly became a fan favourite at the Benito Villamarin.
It now appears that Chelsea are keen for more of their youngsters to be tested at the top level, with the Blues offering Real Betis 10 potential loan candidates for the coming season according to MARCA (via WAGNH). The Blues want more of their future stars to follow Charly Musonda to Los Verdiblancos to help build a stronger relationship with the club, much like the relationship they also share with Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem.
The report further states that Crystal Palace and Norwich flop Patrick Bamford is one of the names on that list, along with fellow striker Dominic Solanke, who fared slightly better at Vitesse in the previous campaign. A change of scenery might suit the 23-year-old Bamford, whereas it may be the time for Solanke to take the next step in the his development.
With incoming Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s attentions focused solely on the Euros with Italy, Chelsea and Betis are unlikely to come to an agreement before the end of the tournament in France.
Chelsea’s loan policy
Chelsea have come under criticism in recent seasons for their unique loan policy, which involves scouting and purchasing talented youngsters and later sending them out on a series of loans in order for them to get some game time. This policy has also by and large been applied to their academy youngsters. Perhaps as a direct result of this, Chelsea have not had an academy graduate as an established starter in the first team since John Terry.
On the positive side, Chelsea’s policy does give some youngsters the opportunity to develop faster and test themselves at incrementally higher levels. This has worked in the case of Thibaut Courtois, who has developed into one of the world’s premier shot-stoppers due to his hugely successful spell at Atletico Madrid.
Whether it is to earn a profit after resale or whether it is to give the player more game time to speed up his progress, Chelsea are likely to continue with this policy and there is little doubt that there will be new recruits into Chelsea’s ‘loan army’ in the coming transfer window.
