It was a slightly quieter seven days on the loan front after last weekend’s goal fest but there were still a number of notable performances this week, headlined by Lucas Piazon’s first start for Málaga. The Brazilian made his opportunity count, laying on an early assist for fellow South American Javier Saviola in a home win over Athletic Bilbao. Piazon showed good craft and skill down the left before cutting…
Chelsea cruised into the last eight of the 2012-13 FA Youth Cup on Friday night with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Barnsley at Staines Town’s Wheatsheaf Park. After a nervy opening twenty minutes where the visitors looked like they might take the lead, the young Blues were settled by Lewis Baker’s cracking free kick, before Alex Kiwomya added a clinical brace before the break. They were unable to add to…
Chelsea’s many loanees returned to form with a bang this weekend as it rained goals, assists and red cards across the continent. With so much to talk about, let’s dive straight in. We returned from a brief international interlude to a televised Friday night clash between two Championship promotion hopefuls as Nathaniel Chalobah and Watford took on Crystal Palace. It was a thoroughly entertaining match which was headlined for Chelsea…
The January transfer window ended this week with only one Chelsea youngster departing on deadline day, but with a total of 24 players plying their trade away from Stamford Bridge, there’s always plenty to catch up on, even in this quieter week in terms of action and incident. In the wake of Peter Odemwingie’s unfortunate shenanigans, Romelu Lukaku seems entrenched as West Brom’s first-choice striker, but despite starting both of…
Chelsea remain unbeaten in Elite Under-18 competition after coming back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United on Saturday. Both teams qualified for the top eight in impressive fashion and so it was always likely to be a high-quality clash. Despite freezing cold weather, fierce winds and a bog of a pitch the two sides put on a good show and although Jack…
Chelsea’s Under-19 team secured safe passage through to the knockout stages of the 2012-13 NextGen Series with an Islam Feruz-inspired 3-3 draw away to Ajax Amsterdam on Tuesday evening. In what was by far their most impressive result in the competition so far, Alex Kiwomya gave the youngsters an early lead but it was immediately cancelled out by a Jordi Bitter strike. Feruz then took over with two strikes either…
It’s approaching that time of the year where clubs are working to formalise their youth team intake for next season. Part of that process is considering which overseas imports are of requisite quality and potential to add to the home-grown crop, and Chelsea have been active on that front throughout the season. News has emerged this week that Swedish defender Ali Suljic will join up with the FA Youth Cup…
Chelsea’s trio of loanees at Vitesse Arnhem headline this week’s Loan Report as they helped their temporary club to a dramatic 3-2 victory over Ajax on Sunday afternoon. Tomas Kalas, Patrick van Aanholt and Gael Kakuta all started in the top-of-the-table clash and played the full duration of a match which was essentially a must-win fixture for Fred Rutten’s men if they were to maintain chances of a title chase…
Chelsea’s Under-21s continued their fine spate of recent form with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge on Friday night. In a topsy-turvy game with multiple lead changes, Scottish forward Islam Feruz proved decisive with a brace for Dermot Drummy’s side, whilst Lewis Baker converted a penalty in between. Boro had taken the lead through Ryan Brobbel and levelled later when Luke Williams struck but despite probably deserving…
At one point or another during the 2012-13 season, Chelsea have had 32 players playing away from Stamford Bridge on loan. Some are first-team players who have had to find their football elsewhere, and some are aspiring young professionals who don’t necessarily meet the work permit criteria to play in England, but the vast majority of them are young prospects with the potential to develop into very good players somewhere…