Anderlecht Showing Interest in Kakuta

I believed, years ago, that Gael Kakuta was the next big thing. I believed it so sincerely I invested hours of my life in scouring footage of the French youngsters performances for the national side. His glimmering displays in our youth squad and his cameos for the reserves/first team were all well documented and vetted by fans worldwide. There was an expectation that Gael would ultimately matriculate to a starting berth and signal the beginning of a long-awaited revolution of cultivating talent within the confines of Cobham. Then, there was that massive dust-up with RC Lens over the transfer of Kakuta to Chelsea. After an initial transfer ban was shot down on appeal, Chelsea ended up covering the cost of training associated with Kakuta's time at Lens, a pittance in comparison to so many other dealings the club has endured (approxmiately 790,000 pounds).

The next chapter in Gael's career involved a series of ineffectual loans to various clubs across the continent. Having manged only six senior side appearances in Blue, Kakuta was initially loaned to Fulham in 2011, where he notched a goal in seven appearances. He was also sent to Bolton during the same season, wherein he made four brief appearances for the Wanderers. Last year, Gael was shipped to his native France for a spell with Dijon- during which, he appeared twelve times and managed to nab four goals for his troubles. The expectations surrounding his return to the squad this past summer were muted, however. Years of hope and adulation had waned and with new recruits appearing by the barrel offering more tangible promise, Gael had been left to after-thought status among many. Still, he traveled with the first-team throughout the American pre-season expedition, earning minutes on the left flank and failing to flatter with his brief appearances. Yet again, the club elected to send him off for another semester of learning, this time to tried-and-true Vitesse.

There's a natural order of logic here, which suggests that Chelsea may finally be ready to cut ties with a player previously hyped to be the next big thing in the sport. Enter Anderlecht, who are beginning to sound out the prospect of taking the Frenchman into the fold come January. No formal offer or confirmation has been established from either camp, but speculation today indicates that the Belgian outfit appear poised to take a long look at Gael's services when the window opens up. Chelsea and Anderlecht have had their share of transfer dealings in the last two years, with Romelu Lukaku and the trio of Munsonda's departing Belgium for London. Considering the nature of those dealings was at times tenuous, it would likely follow that any transfer involving Kakuta will take some time to hash out. Still, there's no certainty that Chelsea are ready to cut ties with Gael.

For my part, I would be disappointed to see him leave. Despite his lack of chances to demonstrate his worth, Gael is a symbol of what used to be our future. Today, we're blessed with an army of riches and an influx of prodigious wonder-kids that spoil us week-in and week-out. Four years ago, it was Gael and Michael Mancienne who were touted as the soldiers of tomorrow. Were he to depart, it would be Chelsea's way of admitting their own failure in finding the right combination of resources to get a player who appears to have bundles of talent to fire properly. Though it wouldn't be the first time the club has cut ties with a player previously expected to go on to do great things, in my eyes, it would certainly sting quite a bit more than the others.