It's been an interesting couple of season's for Chelsea's Jeffrey Bruma. Several years ago he managed to catch the eye of manager Carlo Ancelotti, and made several (admittedly unimpressive) appearances with the Chelsea first team at a very young age. Then Chelsea agreed to cut it's ties with Ancelotti, along with sporting director Frank Arnesen (the man that brought Bruma to Chelsea).
Bruma was clearly not ready to be a Chelsea first team player, so in 2011/12, he followed Arnesen to HSV on a season long loan. He played fairly well despite some managerial turnover, and ended up staying in Hamburg for a second season.
That second season didn't go so well, as Bruma struggled to get any time on the pitch. When he did, it wasn't usually marked with the sort of play we'd have liked to see, and he was relegated to spot starts and time-wasting substitute appearances for most of the year. With just 12 months left to run on his Chelsea contract, it was going to be interesting to see what the club decided to do with him this summer.
It appears that decision has been made, and that the young Dutchman will be allowed to leave. Bruma spent the morning meeting with the PSV technical staff, and there are several other Eredivisie clubs showing interest as well. Bruma's agent had the following to say about this morning's meeting with PSV:
"It's a first interview. We will listen to each other. I think there are more candidates, but we are curious about the plans."
That's a long way from a done deal, but it should certainly lead us to believe that Bruma probably won't be back with the Blues next season. I'd also assume that Chelsea aren't going to be holding out for a massive fee if they're letting the defender shop his services, a telling sign of just how far out of favor he's fallen at the Bridge.
It's always a shame when youngsters fail to make the grade with Chelsea, but here's hoping that a return to his country of birth goes a long way towards jump starting the Dutchman's career. Best of luck in the future Jeffrey.