Chelsea loan out Sam Hutchinson, a replacement purchase is probably close to done

Some rumblings about a loan spell for Sam Hutchinson started making the rounds yesterday, and this morning we have some official confirmation. Sam Hutchinson will be joining Nottingham Forest on loan until January*, in doing so likely seeing regular playing time at the Championship level. Hopefully Hutch will be a regular starter there, as I'm really curious to see what the limitations of his knee injury will prove to be going forward. I'm also curious as to what role he'll play, as that will likely give us an indicator of the role Chelsea see him best suited at. The Forest website clearly mentions his ability to play both on the flank and in the center, so they haven't given us a hint as to where he'll be playing.

*This may be a full season loan, both websites have had different numbers up at some point this morning

At the moment, Paulo Ferriera is the only proven backup to Branislav Ivanovic on the right flank. Todd Kane and Nathaniel Chalobah both seem to be in the plans for the U21 league (having been named to the NextGen squad), and Ryan Bertrand saw a few minutes on the right with team Great Britain this summer. With Bran making regular appearances in the center of the defense, it would seem logical that we've got something close to completed as far as additional depth at fullback is concerned. Then again, maybe we just really like Paulo. Regardless, best of luck to Sam. I'm sure everyone wishes him nothing but the best in his time away from Chelsea.