There are currently eight young Chelsea players out on loan both at home and abroad. A further trio – Milan Lalkovic, Sam Walker and Ben Gordon – have already spent time away and are now back at Chelsea. With the opening of the winter transfer window, attentions not only turn towards the high-profile deals the first team may make, but also to the moves Neil Bath and the academy staff…
An Open Letter from Say No CPO
“After extensive discussions with Hammersmith and Fulham Council over the last few weeks, it has become very clear that the council do not want Chelsea Football Club to leave the borough and have been surprised at the media reports recently, in regards to the club exploring the possibility of moving to Battersea power station, as an alternative to redeveloping Stamford Bridge. You might recall that the club previously stated that…
Learning Lukaku
You don’t find too many £18m signings playing reserve team football, but Romelu Lukaku is something of a special case. Much is expected of the gigantic 18 year-old forward, but for the majority of his first few months in England he has most often been found playing for Dermot Drummy’s second string team. With an array of senior forwards ahead of him in the pecking order, playing time was always…
Lofty Ambitions
Five goals and two assists in thirteen matches, England Under-16 captain (complete with goal and assists), and a place on the reserve team substitutes bench aged 15. It’s not been a bad 2011-12 campaign so far for schoolboy Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and whilst coverage of Under-16 players should be tempered, the young midfielder makes an impact so often that he’s hard to ignore. For the best part of 18 months through…
A Fan Of Amin
With both the youth and reserve teams on a winter break, it’s time to take a look at some of this season’s key players and look at how they’ve been developing. The first in a series over the New Year period is Amin Affane. — As a general rule of thumb, a second-year scholar stands out amongst his younger team-mates in academy football. He is typically a bit bigger, a…
The Loan Report: December 19-27
The Christmas edition of The Loan Report is something of an abridged one as a number of Chelsea’s young loan stars are spending the holiday season away from football, with their leagues enjoying winter breaks. Matej Delac and Ceske Budejovice went on hiatus earlier in the month and in the last week the Croatian stopper was joined by Jeffrey Bruma, Tomas Kalas, Ulises Dávila and Thibaut Courtois. Their league campaigns…
Chelsea Carols
At this festive time of year, may I present to you….a Football Service of Carols & Songs. The Chels’s Carol God rest ye merry Chelsea fans Let nothing you dismay Cos AVB our saviour Has found a perfect way To save us all from player- power When we were gone astray And we all still really hate Chris Foy Hate Chris Foy We all still really hate Chris Foy Arsenal’s…
Kakuta To Join Dijon On Loan
French Under-21 international Gael Kakuta will attempt to kick-start his career once again in 2012 as he will join French club Dijon FCO on loan from Chelsea, according to French sporting media today. Kakuta has spent the first half of this season at Bolton Wanderers but despite scoring in his first start for the club, he has been unable to work his way into Owen Coyle’s plans. Wanderers have struggled…
Reserves: Arsenal 0-4 Chelsea
A spectacular brace from Nathaniel Chalobah ensured a superb end to Chelsea’s 2011 calendar as the Blues secured an impressive 4-0 victory away to Arsenal. The defender-cum-midfielder, who only turned 17 last Monday, opened the scoring in the first half with a cheeky backheel and after Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with his fourth in as many games, Chalobah put the seal on things with a beautifully flighted free kick….
The Loan Report: December 12-18
With the season drawing towards the winter break across Europe, this week’s loan report will be longer than many in the coming weeks as many leagues draw a line under the first half of the 2011-12 season. Tomas Kalas and Jeffrey Bruma have been amongst the highlights of the campaign so far for Chelsea’s young loanees and both were in action at the weekend for one last time in 2011…