Chelsea booked their place in the last eight of the first ever Barclays Premier League Under-21 Cup on Monday evening with a well-deserved 2-1 victory over West Ham United. Isaiah Brown gave them the lead early on and whilst Mitchell Beeney was the unfortunate victim of a freak own goal, Nathan Aké restored a lead which Dermot Drummy’s charges were never to give up. They might have added considerably more…
The Loan Report: January 1-5
The first Loan Report of 2014 begins in familiar form as Patrick Bamford continued the run of a Chelsea loanee scoring in every week of the season to date, but as we enter a month of transfer activity, the prolific hitman is amongst the many who are about to embark upon new challenges. Headliners Bamford’s seventeenth and final goal for Milton Keynes Dons came in the FA Cup away to…
Analysing The Latest Vitesse Dealings
The latest arrangement in the affiliation between Chelsea and Vitesse Arnhem has this afternoon taken Bertrand Traore to the Gelderlanders on loan until the end of the season, with Gael Kakuta and Sam Hutchinson returning from their stays overseas. We know pretty much what this means for the trio as far as Chelsea are concerned – Traore gains experience and exposure for potential future first team involvement, Hutchinson will likely…
Five For A January Loan
With January approaching, Chelsea’s relentless pursuit of flooding the football world with their own talent on loan is bound to pick up again. With over 20 players already out and about, it’s not easy to come up with a shortlist of those who may join them, but here’s five to keep an eye on as we get stuck into the transfer market once more. Nathan Aké After something of a…
The Loan Report: December 26-29
Despite a healthy chunk of Chelsea’s loanees now being on their winter break, the streak of at least one goal being scored in every week of the season to date continued in the post-Christmas period courtesy of a familiar pair of left-footed forwards. Headliners Romelu Lukaku and Patrick Bamford have found the net more than twenty times combined this season and each of them added to their tallies this week…
The Loan Report: Mid-Season Review
It’s been quite a few months on the Chelsea loan front. With some two dozen youngsters having been sent out to destinations far and wide in order to continue their development, it’s oftentimes hard to keep track of their progress. At this mid-season juncture, it’s time to take a look at who’s fared well, who hasn’t, and who might be in for a change of scenery this coming January; for…
74 Loanee Goals (And Counting)…
At what is generally accepted to be the mid-point of the 2013-14 season – especially considering many European leagues take in a winter break – Chelsea’s assortment of loanees have combined for 74 goals so far. Sixteen individual players have found the back of the net at least once, with just five – Sam Hutchinson, Cristian Cuevas, Josh McEachran, Oriol Romeu and Wallace – having failed to put their name…
The Loan Report: December 16-22
In the final Loan Report before Christmas, the usual suspects have found themselves making headlines again. As we have for most of the season so far, we begin in the Netherlands… Headliners It’s not often, however, that we’ll feature a left-back scoring twice in a week, but that’s what Patrick van Aanholt did during the past seven days. His first goal was a consolation effort in Vitesse’s 3-1 KNVB Beker…
Under-18s: Chelsea 6-0 Reading
Chelsea’s Under-18s capped what has been a terrific 2013 calendar year with a 6-0 win over Reading at Cobham on Saturday morning. A hat-trick from leading goalscorer Dominic Solanke stole the headlines, whilst there was also a brace for Ambrose Gnahore and one from Charly Musonda on a day where the Blues might even have had double figures, such was their dominance. Adi Viveash’s selection was a neat collection of…
The Loan Report: December 9-15
With no fewer than six players on loan at Vitesse, it stands to reason that those featuring at the Gelredome this season are more likely than most to feature heavily atop the Loan Report on a weekly basis. With two goals and an assist against NAC Breda on Sunday, Lucas Piazon takes centre stage again as he continues to assert himself as the Eredivisie’s player of the season so far….