With the international break now firmly in the past it’s time to dive back into the club football scene and check up on how Chelsea’s young loanees are getting on at their respective clubs.
Transfer deadline day saw two of the club’s more promising talents find Premier League loan moves but neither Gael Kakuta nor Patrick van Aanholt featured in their first opportunities to do so for Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic respectively.
Kakuta remained an unused substitute and van Aanholt was not involved in the Latics’ matchday squad, but with both teams ending up on the wrong side of hidings from Manchesters United and City, it was perhaps best not to throw either in at the very deep end and instead introduce them in more favourable conditions.
In The Championship, Ben Gordon was also an unused substitute for Peterborough as the Posh lost 1-0 to Hull City at London Road. Milan Lalkovic and Doncaster meanwhile lost 2-0 at Cardiff with the Slovakian playing as a second half substitute.
Lalkovic had spent much of the previous week travelling to and from Kazakhstan for Under-21 duty and was only able to start the match on the bench. His deal at the Keepmoat Stadium is set to expire after next weekend’s clash with Reading.
In League Two, Northampton Town drew 0-0 with Torquay United in a match which gave Sam Walker his third clean sheet of the season and a first since mid August. The giant stopper denied Chris McPhee and Joe Oastler amongst a total of eight saves to earn the Cobblers a point and has been one of the club’s best performers so far this campaign.
Moving things overseas, Jeffrey Bruma was on the bench for Hamburg, who suffered another defeat in a 2-0 reverse to Werder Bremen. The Dutch international has beem something of an odd man out since Slobodan Rajkovic’s arrival and for now at least may have to wait for his opportunity to play.
In the Eredivisie, Vitesse lost 4-0 to AZ on Saturday night with Tomas Kalas amongst the unused subs, which has become something of a theme this week. Ulises Dávila has yet to really become involved with the first team squad but is expected to do so in the coming weeks.
More positively, Thibaut Courtois continued in goal for Atlético Madrid and whilst he conceded his first goal for the club in a 1-0 defeat to Valencia, he played well and exhibited all of the traits which enticed Chelsea into signing him.
Finally, Lucas Piazon will no longer be a part of the loan report having arrived in England this past week to begin training with Chelsea ahead of the official confirmation of his move when he turns 18 in January.
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