Chelsea: Nine head out on loan

Oriol Romeu:

Romeu joined Chelsea in the summer of 2011 from Barcelona. It was a signing with an eye on the future and it was hoped that Romeu could be a big player for us in the future. Two summers later and with 22 games and a few injuries behind, Romeu has joined Valencia on loan. Rumours are that should he do well enough at Valencia, he will stay permanently and that he has already agreed to a four-year deal to start next summer once the clubs agree on a fee.

It is a shame that things have not worked out so far for Romeu as at times he has looked a really useful player for us. There is, of course, the possibility that he will go on loan for a season, play some games and come back a better player, ready to make a good fist of playing for Chelsea’s first team. Time will tell where his future will lie, but at the moment the noises are that we may not see him in a Chelsea shirt again.

As always, there are also a number of academy trained players heading out on loan; this number will be sure to increase but it is interesting that there has been quite a few already, enabling the players to join up with their new clubs pre season. It is also very interesting that a lot of these players are joining up with clubs they have previously had loan moves with, enabling them to be familiar with the club but more importantly, for the clubs and managers to be familiar with the players.