Yesterday was a busy day for the Chelsea academy, one player moved on for good, another was confirmed as signed and 4 were moved out of the club on loan. Here I will be covering the 4 loan moves that were confirmed.
Andreas Christensen
First up was a move to the Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach for defender Andreas Christensen. This move for Christensen has been confirmed as being for 2 seasons. Christensen has been a mainstay of Chelsea's U21's squad and has been impressive ever since his first appearance.
Christensen's progress has been such that last season he was able to make 3 appearances for Chelsea's first team. Christensen to me seems to be the type of player who would take a loan move in his stride and do well. However if there is one thing that I have learned over the years of following our players on loan is that loan moves are always a gamble.
Isaiah Brown
Izzy Brown has been on an upward path since he joined Chelsea from West Brom and he has worked hard and given his all to make that progress. He is being rewarded for that drive and improvement by being given a big loan move to Vitesse Arnhem. Still only 18 years old it is a big step for the young man but one he is fully capable of making.
Playing as a wide player or as a number 9 he has a decent goal scoring record scoring 10 then 11 goals in the last 2 seasons, but one of his most interesting aspects is his ability to work for the team, that is reflected in his assist stats. Again in his last 2 season he has assisted 10 and then 16 goals for his teammates.
This will be a loan move to watch closely as the young man has a lot of potential but at the same time at a young age has the possibility to go wrong and for him to not feature much.
Nathan
Nathan may be a name that many are not familiar with and that would be understandable. I you watch the Chelsea news in the media closely you will have no doubt picked up on the story that Chelsea had signed the 19 year old Brazilian, full name Nathan Allan De Souza, from Brazilian club Atletico Paranaense.
An attacking midfielder capable of playing behind the forward or across the front line he has played many games for Brazil's U20's team. Nathan will join up with fellow Chelsea loan players Lewis Baker and Izzy Brown at Vitesse. Nathan will be hoping to follow in his countryman Lucas Piazon's footsteps and make an impression at the Dutch club.
For many of us this loan will be the first time we get to see what Nathan is all about. Lets hope that he settles and prove to be a very smart signing by the club.
Marco Van Ginkel
Since his move to Chelsea from Vitesse Marco Van Ginkel has had a very tough time. In his first season he picked up an injury early on into the season that would keep him out for the rest of the season just as the young man was showing promise. That was followed up with a loan move to AC Milan but again he very quickly picked up an injury there too.
Van Ginkel eventually got his fitness back and once he settled in he soon established himself in the team and the run in to the end of last season was good for him being a regular feature for the Italian club. Eventually he made a total of 17 appearances for AC Milan.
Now he will have another chance in the Premier League as he is joining Stoke for the season. Providing he can stay fit I have no doubt that Van Ginkel will be a hit for Stoke, the question will be though if it will be enough for him to revive the possibility of having a future at Chelsea.
So there we have it, 4 more players join the Chelsea loan army and that means only 11 days into July we already have 8 players out on loan and 3 of them already at Vitesse Arnhem.