Chelsea were expected to have a tough time coping with the ongoing two-window transfer embargo but Frank Lampard’s policy of blooding academy prospects in the first-team has spared the club’s blushes.
With the transfer ban looming large, Frank Lampard’s homecoming as the manager at his former club has brought with it a policy that has marked a drastic change in the handling of homegrown talent at Stamford Bridge.
Since the dawn of the Roman Abramovich era in West London, Chelsea have been infamously known for their policy of buying young talents and then letting them rot in the loan army for years, with bleak prospects of first-team football on offer.
However, with the transfer ban in place and Lampard showing a lot of willingness to utilise the club’s academy starlets, the strength of the loan army has decreased drastically this season.
The likes of Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Reece James, who were all a part of Chelsea’s loan army last season, have established themselves as regular fixtures under Lampard.
However, the Blues still have quite a few players out on loan in various clubs across Europe, and with that in mind, let us run the rule over some of them.
The Ghanaian international has been out of favour at Stamford Bridge for ages and is currently serving his fourth loan spell away from West London at Mallorca in the La Liga.
The 25-year-old left-back has struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular in his new surroundings, with stiff competition for places limiting his involvement to just two starts in the La Liga so far.
Monaco have only made a mediocre start to their campaign under Leonardo Jardim but the Frenchman has been one of the club’s brightest sparks till now.
As per whoscored, Bakayoko boasts of a pass accuracy rate of 87.6%, including 3.6 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 2.4 long balls per game.
The defensive midfielder, who excelled out on loan at AC Milan in the previous campaign, has started 7 times in Ligue 1 this term and looks well on course for another fruitful campaign away from Stamford Bridge.
RB Leipzig have a big reputation for blooding top-quality young talent but things haven’t gone according to the script for the Welsh international, with Ampadu still awaiting his first appearance for the Bundesliga outfit.
With Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate and Willi Orban vying for a spot at the heart of the backline and the likes of Adamou Haidara and Diego Demme more accomplished players in the holding midfield role, Ampadu has found himself completely lost in the cold.
One of the key players during the reign of Antonio Conte, the Nigerian has found himself out of favour at Stamford Bridge since the start of the previous campaign.
After a fruitful loan stint at Fenerbahce during the second half of the 2018-19 season, Moses has endured a slow start this time around, making only 2 league appearances in the Turkish top-flight. Nonetheless, he has already scored and assisted one apiece.
A regular fixture for Huddersfield Town in the Championship this term, the Leonese defensive midfielder has been one of the shining lights for the Terriers in what has otherwise been a disastrous start to the campaign for the West Yorkshire outfit.
The 20-year-old has caught the eye with his tough-tackling and energetic displays in the middle of the park, scoring once in 12 league appearances so far.
The Luton-born midfielder, who made his first-team debut for Chelsea back in the 2013-14 season, is currently serving a loan spell at Fortuna Dusseldorf in the Bundesliga, the seventh of his time at Stamford Bridge.
Having failed to impress at Leeds United and Reading last season, Baker has had a lot of game time in Germany, starting 6 league fixtures for Dusseldorf this term.
However, he has hardly made the most of his opportunities, with the 24-year-old former England U-21 drawing a complete blank in terms of goals and assists so far.
Perhaps the most impressive performer so far in Chelsea’s loan army, the 19-year-old has made eyeballs turn with his consistently impressive displays for the Addicks in the Championship.
Operating as a left-sided central midfielder in Lee Bowyer’s 4-4-2 midfield diamond, Gallagher has caught the eye with his dynamic style of play and ability to contribute equally to both the attack and the defence.
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The teenager has already racked up 5 goals and an assist in 14 league outings for Charlton and it won’t be long before he emerges on Lampard’s radar if he continues his impressive development.