For the better part of the last decade, Chelsea have earned a reputation as a club which does not give youth a fair chance at senior level. Whatever the merits of that argument, it typically leads to the suggestion that players of sufficient quality are not being produced. Again, that much can be debated, but what is certain is that an ever-growing number of Blues academy products are making an…
It was a week like many others this season the loan front as the usual movers and shakers developing away from Stamford Bridge continued in the same vein as they have for many recent weeks and months. Thibaut Courtois typically headlines the group, with the 19 year-old Belgian goalkeeper arguably the most competent and first-team ready of all Blues youngsters on loan this season. He added two more wins to…
Chelsea warmed up for Friday’s FA Youth Cup Semi Final clash against Manchester United with a 3-0 win over Reading on Saturday morning. Goals from Amin Affane, Lewis Baker and Alex Kiwomya secured the win in a match which was barely a contest after a first half red card for visiting goalkeeper Dean Santangelo. He received his marching orders for pulling Islam Feruz back after the striker had closed down…
Chelsea have this week been linked with a pair of teenagers from Italy and Spain respectively, with deals to secure the signature of both said to be close. On Monday, Italian website TuttoB.com – the Serie B-specific arm of well-known transfer speculation outlet TuttoMercatoWeb – noted that the Blues have moved to sign Pescara goalkeeper Luca Savelloni for some €2m. On Wednesday, meanwhile, ElCentroCampista.com via Spanish website Informacion.es reported that…
One of Chelsea’s poorest performances at reserve team level in 2011-12 saw the Blues fall to a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Monday lunchtime. A team featuring just two of the eleven which beat Fulham last time out failed to impose themselves on a more experienced Arsenal eleven and goals in either half from Chuks Aneke and Hector Bellerín secured three points for Neil Banfield’s Gunners….
Gael Kakuta has been front and centre in The Loan Report for much of 2012 and the young Frenchman continued his fine spell at Dijon this week with another goal. Kakuta’s fourth strike of his brief stay in Burgundy had threatened to cause a major upset as the hosts led table-topping Montpellier, but a late equaliser deprived Patrice Carteron’s side of all three points. The game offered little to write…
Chelsea’s Under-18s staged the latest in an impressive series of comebacks on Saturday morning to earn a point against Tottenham Hotspur. The Blues found themselves two goals down at the break and whilst they weren’t quite able to finish the turnaround, second half strikes by Lewis Baker and Ismail Seremba saw them take a deserved share of the spoils. Some regular faces from the youth cup run were absent ahead…
Chelsea have been linked with a move for fifteen year-old Colombian striker Joao Rodriguez according to reports in South America this week. The forward, who will turn 16 in May, is amongst the most prolific goalscorers in his age group in the entire continent and particularly caught the eye of Blues scouts last November, when he scored four times in the Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-15. That was the latest in a…
The recent hive of activity on the loan front cooled somewhat in the last seven days and the latest instalment of The Loan Report is, as a consequence, a much lower key affair. Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois had the highest profile week of anyone temporarily away from Stamford Bridge as he first kept a clean sheet for Atlético Madrid against Lazio to see Los Colchoneros into the last sixteen of…
After coming back to win from three goals down on Wednesday night at Nottingham Forest, Chelsea played the role of comeback kids once again on Saturday morning as a brace from Amin Affane and a late winner from Patrick Bamford saw them twice come from behind to win 3-2 at Arsenal. First half strikes from Josh Rees and Anthony Jeffrey had Steve Bould’s side in the ascendancy but the Blues…