This week has seen most of Chelsea’s youngsters return to base at Cobham to begin pre-season and, as has become customary, a number of them have put pen to paper on their first professional contracts. Most of last summer’s intake of fourteen first-year scholars signed their first pro deals upon turning 17 (the earliest stage at which they can do so) during the 2014-15 campaign. Dominic Solanke, Jake Clarke-Salter, Tammy…
Bertrand Traore’s upwardly mobile 2014-15 season saw him become one of the most talked about youngsters certainly in Dutch football, and increasingly in European football. The talented 19 year-old, on loan from Chelsea at Vitesse Arnhem, switched from a familiar wide attacking role to that of centre forward in late November and proceeded to plunder seventeen goals as Peter Bosz’s side soared into the upper reaches of the Eredivisie table…
Eddie Newton has a job many people would find to be unenviable, yet at the same time there are plenty who would love to do what he does. The former Chelsea academy youngster, first team regular, Cup Final goalscorer and Champions League winning Assistant Manager has served as the club’s loanee liaison manager over the last two or three years; a role that means he oversees, directs and deals with…
We’ve reached (pretty much) the end of the 2014-15 club season, which means it’s time to look back over the campaign as far as things went on the loan front at Chelsea Football Club. In this review, we look at events as they unfolded in the various remaining parts of the world littered with Blues youngsters. Who? [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Club,Appearances,Goals Uli Dávila,Vitória Setúbal,14,0 Matej…
We’ve reached (pretty much) the end of the 2014-15 club season, which means it’s time to look back over the campaign as far as things went on the loan front at Chelsea Football Club. In this review, we look at events as they unfolded in Spain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Who? [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Team,Appearances,Goals Tomas Kalas,Köln,0,0 Uli Dávila,Tenerife,11,1 Gael Kakuta,Rayo Vallecano,35,5 Thorgan Hazard*,Gladbach,29,4…
There’s plenty of reason to celebrate in the final Loan Report of the 2014-15 season as Vitesse secured Europa League qualification whilst one youngster who has not always had an easy ride during his Chelsea career got his hands on a league title this weekend. Netherlands Having seen off PEC Zwolle last week, Vitesse were left with a two-legged tie against Heerenveen with a place in the Third Qualifying Round…
We’ve reached (pretty much) the end of the 2014-15 club season, which means it’s time to look back over the campaign as far as things went on the loan front at Chelsea Football Club. In this review, we look at events as they unfolded in England. Who? [table class=”table table-striped”] Player,Team,Appearances,Goals Nathan Aké,Reading,5,0 Christian Atsu,Everton,13,0 Lewis Baker,Sheffield Wednesday,4,0 Lewis Baker,MK Dons,12,3 Patrick Bamford,Middlesbrough,44,19 Ryan Bertrand*,Southampton,27,2…
It’s tough to know where to begin when looking back on the 2014-15 Chelsea academy season. Do you highlight a fourth FA Youth Cup in six years and becoming only the second team in the last ten years to retain the trophy? How about being the first English side to be crowned UEFA Youth League Champions? The club’s Under-21 and Under-18 groups each mounted title challenges before falling away to…
The season is winding down towards its conclusion but there remains a few prevailing interests on the Chelsea loanee front. We kick off this weekend, as we have done quite often this season, with Bertrand Traore. Headliners To say Vitesse’s fortunes have improved somewhat since manager Peter Bosz opted to move the Burkina Faso international into a centre forward role back in November would be understating things somewhat. His prolific…
Two young forwards born eighteen days and fifty miles apart have cut a swathe through academy defences this season. Dominic Solanke and Tammy Abraham have combined for 82 goals against England and Europe’s finest, split perfectly equally at 41 apiece. That no Chelsea player had managed such a feat in more than two decades shows the scale of the achievement by a pair of boys who joined the club together…