Academy Preparing for New Season

July 5, 2014

With the World Cup hurtling towards its conclusion more and more days of the week have become freed up with no live football to watch. Attentions have duly turned towards the return of club football for 2014-15 and whilst Chelsea’s first team aren’t set to return until Monday, the younger generation are already back and raring to go. At this time of year the potential stars of the future can…

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The Loan Report: Spanish Promotion Special

June 22, 2014

Late June during a World Cup summer might seem an unusual time to be catching up on Chelsea loanees but the 2013-14 club season in Spain extended well into the summer as two Blues youngsters went in search of promotion. The playoffs in both the Segunda Division and the remarkably unforgiving Segunda B structure called for a long and tiring schedule, but one which ultimately successful in both cases. For…

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The Loan Report: Season in Review – Spain

May 30, 2014

With the 2013-14 season now pretty much over, it’s time to take a look back over a record-breaking campaign on the loan front. Today, we look at the Chelsea’s prospects in Spain. Who? [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Club,Apps,Goals,Assists Thibaut Courtois,Atlético Madrid,55,0,0 Marko Marin,Sevilla,31,2,6 Oriol Romeu,Valencia,18,0,0 Ulises Dávila,Córdoba,31,5,n/a Jhon Pirez,Leganés,17,1,0 [/table] The Story? Courtois pieced together what would almost go down as the storybook year. Already a Copa del Rey, UEFA Europa…

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The Loan Report: Season in Review – England

May 27, 2014

With the 2013-14 season now pretty much over, it’s time to take a look back over a record-breaking campaign on the loan front. Today, we look at the Chelsea’s prospects in England. Who? [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Club,Apps,Goals,Assists Ryan Bertrand,Aston Villa,16,0,0 Romelu Lukaku,Everton,33,16,6 Victor Moses,Liverpool,22,2,0 Patrick Bamford,MK Dons/Derby,52,25,5 Billy Clifford,Yeovil,1,0,0 Nathaniel Chalobah,Nottm Forest/Middlesbrough,24,3,0 Sam Hutchinson,Sheff Wed,10,1,1 Todd Kane,Blackburn,28,2,3 Josh McEachran, Watford/Wigan,19,0,1 Kenneth Omeruo,Middlesbrough,14,0,1 Milan Lalkovic,Walsall,42,6,4 Daniel Pappoe, Colchester/Kingstonian,14,0,0 George Saville,Brentford,44,3,4 Sam…

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The Loan Report: All 123 Goals

May 25, 2014

More than thirty Chelsea players combined for upwards of forty different loan moves during the 2013-14 season. Naturally, they combined to register a series of landmarks that are unlikely to be surpassed in the near future if at all. At least one of them scored for 37 consecutive weeks of the club campaign, falling short of an unbroken streak at the final hurdle. Twenty-one of them found the back of…

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The Loan Report: Season in Review – Rest of the World

May 23, 2014

With the 2013-14 season now pretty much over, it’s time to take a look back over a record-breaking campaign on the loan front. Today, we look at the Chelsea’s prospects in Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Colombia. Who? [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Club,Apps,Goals,Assists Matej Delac,FK Vojdovina/FK Sarajevo,25,0,0 Mario Pašalić,Hajduk Split,16,5,4 Joao Rodriguez,Uniautónoma,6,1,1 [/table] The Story Delac’s nomadic career took in two new destinations over the last nine months as he stopped in…

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The Loan Report: Season in Review – Belgium, France and Italy

May 22, 2014

With the 2013-14 season now pretty much over, it’s time to take a look back over a record-breaking campaign on the loan front. Today, we look at the Chelsea’s prospects in Belgium, France and Italy. Who? [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Club,Apps,Goals,Assists Kurt Zouma,Saint Etienne,9,0,1 Gael Kakuta,Lazio,2,0,0 Wallace,Inter,4,0,0 Thorgan Hazard,Zulte Waregem,50,17,20 Billy Clifford,Antwerp,4,0,0 [/table] (Zouma’s appearances count from when he signed for Chelsea) The Story? Signed during the January transfer window and…

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The Loan Report: Season in Review – The Netherlands

May 21, 2014

With the 2013-14 season now pretty much over, it’s time to take a look back over a record-breaking campaign on the loan front. Today, we look at the Chelsea’s prospects in The Netherlands. Who? [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Club,Apps,Goals,Assists Christian Atsu,Vitesse,28,5,6 Cristian Cuevas,Vitesse/FC Eindhoven,15,1,0 Sam Hutchinson,Vitesse,2,0,0 Gael Kakuta,Vitesse,14,3,1 Lucas Piazon,Vitesse,31,11,8 Stipe Perica,NAC Breda,26,6,1 Patrick van Aanholt,Vitesse,34,5,3 Bertrand Traore,Vitesse,15,3,0 [/table] The Story It was a season of what could have been in…

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Academy Season Review: Under-18s

May 20, 2014

For the third time in five seasons, Chelsea are the FA Youth Cup holders. Their latest success will live in academy folklore for years to come as Adi Viveash’s boys rescued themselves from two goals behind on aggregate to defeat Fulham in the last minute of a breathless tie against West London neighbours Fulham to eventually triumph 7-6 over the course of two epic legs. It was a fitting conclusion…

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Academy Season Review: Under-21s

May 19, 2014

In the fledgling weeks of the 2013-14 season, Chelsea’s Academy Manager Neil Bath revealed that it was his and the club’s intention to treat the Barclays Under-21 Premier League perhaps more seriously than they have in previous years. That’s not to say that they haven’t approached it with anything less than professional commitment in recent times, but the sentiment was different this time. They were targeting silverware. Ten months later,…

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