April’s Loan Report takes a look at some of the players Chelsea might be looking to move on this summer in an effort to trim some of the excess fat around the first-team squad. It’s an endeavour that has never quite proved to be as easy as idle speculation on social media would have you believe, and it serves to highlight the work ahead for Marina Granovskaia and her team…
March has been a generally quiet month on the loan front and, with the international break in full swing, we’ll take this opportunity to give a quick one-liner on every single loanee currently out and about as we gear up for the last part of the club season. Ethan Ampadu Chris Wilder is out as manager at Sheffield United and Ampadu’s attention will turn towards his next move once the…
This Saturday (6th March), Chelsea’s Under-18s welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Cobham for an Under-18 Premier League match you can watch live and exclusive across Chelsea platforms. It’s been some three years since Chelsea last broadcast a league match for this age group and, while they have continued to lead the way in live FA Youth Cup football, it’s a welcome return to a format they showed for much of the…
The first Loan Report of 2021 brings about an update on an exciting January, plus a round-up of the winter transfer deadline day deals that did or didn’t happen. Deadline Day • Jack Wakely joined Brighton until the end of the season in a move that will see him join the Seagulls’ Under-23 squad. The big defender had a successful trial there early in the new year, following a stint…
It didn’t last as long as anyone wanted, but the Frank Lampard era at Chelsea came to an abrupt end on Monday, throwing the immediate future of the club at all levels into a brand-new era of uncertainty. As Thomas Tuchel prepares to enter the fray, we’re forced to take a step back and ask what it means for everyone, but particularly the academy, which has faced often insurmountable challenges…
It’s been a month since Chelsea last played an academy fixture; their 6-1 thumping of Manchester United meant the Development Squad signed off a successful 2020 top of the Premier League 2 table in defence of the title they won after an unbeaten, pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign. They were due back last week, as were the Under-18s after a month off themselves, only for the first fixtures of the new calendar…
It’s been a strange year to say the least, but another fascinating one for Chelsea’s academy, and one not without success. It started in relatively unassuming fashion, at least given what was to come, with a pair of promising wins for the Development Squad, who were unbeaten in the league at the turn of the year into 2020, and challenging for the PL2 title. The Under-18s were in similarly good…
The last Loan Report of 2020 drops mere days before the January transfer window opens. With 31 players already out on loan and a talented Development Squad bursting at the seams with players ready to test their mettle at the next level, it could be a busy month at Chelsea. Let’s have a look at who could be on the move. Conor Gallagher On the face of things, Conor is…
The November edition of the Loan Report focuses on the players out there right now who are positioning themselves best to break into Chelsea’s first team squad next season. The 2021-22 campaign might be a long way off just now but, make no mistake, plans are already being made for what comes next. Conor Gallagher Chief among the most exciting options right now is Conor Gallagher, who has taken to…
The FA Youth Cup tends to bring out the best in Chelsea, even in the early rounds, and in beating Barnsley 8-1 to get their 2020-21 campaign under way on Saturday, the Blues once again laid out their plans to challenge for honours this season. Jude Soonsup-Bell led the way with four goals; a first-half hat-trick added to with an audacious backheeled effort later in the game, while the relentless…