There’s still two months left to go in this turbulent season, but Chelsea are already drawing up some plans for next year.
Despite big struggles for Mauricio Pochettino this campaign, there’s been some success stories with the collection of players out on loan away from Stamford Bridge.
For instance, Chelsea-owned youngster Omari Hutchinson is thriving for an Ipswich Town side top of the Championship. The Athletic recently claimed that Chelsea are ‘very happy’ with the development of 20-year-old winger Hutchinson.
Elsewhere, 21-year-old Blues striker David Datro Fofana is doing well since joining Burnley on loan in January.
Let’s hope there’s a route for them into Chelsea’s main squad later down the line.
Chelsea planning new loan
Alfie Gilchrist, who’s just 20, is the next Blues talent set to enter the loan system next season.
The young defender is celebrating officially signing a new Chelsea contract yesterday, which comes as a reward for breaking into the club’s first-team from the academy this campaign.
Now, his immediate future is being mapped out by the club.
The Athletic claims that Chelsea plan to loan Gilchrist to a club in the Championship next season as part of his development.
It is explained that three to four teams have already expressed an interest in signing the 20-year-old.
The report adds that both Chelsea and Gilchrist agree that regular senior minutes is the best next step for his progress.
Clubs should be queuing up
Gilchrist’s not looked out of place during his 12 senior appearances this season, but a full year of Championship football could be so useful to him. You only need to look and see how much it helped someone like Reece James earlier in his career.
Mark Robinson, the Chelsea U21 head coach, has described Gilchrist as “enthusiastic” and insists there’s a lot more to come from him. This was in a piece from the official website yesterday after news of a contract extension.
We’re very excited to see Gilchrist compete in the second division with his mix of aggression and ball-playing quality as a modern day centre-back.