Chelsea Loan Round-up for Saturday: Solanke scores; Swift impresses; others

ENGLAND:

Marco van Ginkel, despite being subbed off relatively early in his last start, was named in Stoke City's starting XI again, lasting 75 minutes as they took on Crystal Palace, for whom Patrick Bamford was an unused substitute.

Christian Atsu, still recuperating from injury, was absent for AFC Bournemouth.

After starting Middlesbrough's midweek game, Tomas Kalas was named as a substitute for their top-of-the-table clash against Brighton and Hove Albion, which Boro, with Jose Mourinho watching and supporting good friend Aitor Karanka, won 3-0. Kalas now has a fight on his hands for the right-back spot, with Emilio Nsue Lopez proving to be a more than worthy competitor. The Czech defender was brought on for Lopez in the 74th minute.

John Swift started again for Brentford and assisted one of their goals in a 4-2 victory over Huddersfield Town. He was subbed off in the 80th minute. After the game, manager Dean Smith revealed that the Bees were in talks with Chelsea over extending Swift's loan.

"We had a discussion on how he was doing with Chelsea when the youth team were playing at Cobham on Thursday. Those discussions are ongoing but he's fitted in well as well."

- Dean Smith

Jordan Houghton was an unused substitute for Gillingham.

While the situation remains ambiguous on the Alex Davey front, it appears that the center back has returned to London.

FRANCE:

Both Mario Pasalic and Jeremie Boga were spectators from the bench for AS Monaco and Rennes, respectively. However, we can expect Boga to be back in the thick of things when Rennes travel to Nice for their Coupe de France game.

BELGIUM:

Cristian Cuevas played 83 minutes for STVV, who lost 3-0 to Genk while Victorien Angban and Joao Rodriguez missed out due to injury.

Cristian Manea, after playing 45 minutes for Royal Mouscron in midweek, was once again an unused substitute.

TURKEY:

Kenneth Omeruo started for Kasimpasa, and Marko Marin got 15 minutes off the bench for Trabzonspor.

OTHERS:

Vitesse Arnhem ended 2015 on a high, making light work of FC Twente in a 5-1 victory at the GelreDome. While Dominic Solanke started up front as usual, Izzy Brown was also handed a start on the left wing. Solanke played the whole 90 and scored a rather unorthodox goal (his fifth of the season). Brown assisted Milot Rashica's second, before being subbed off in the eightieth minute. Lewis Baker got around 15 minutes off the bench, and Danilo Pantic was an unused substitute. Nathan remained out due to injury.

With this victory, Vitesse moved up to 5th and two points behind Heracles Almelo at the half-season break.

Here are the match highlights:

Islam Feruz was given 7 minutes off the bench for Hibernian, who sit second in the Scottish Championship.

EXTRAS:

Read Sam Wallace's interview with Nathan Ake here, where he talks about making the grade at Chelsea and his life before he made the move to England.

Watch Victor Moses, who is ahead of schedule in his return from injury according to Slaven Bilic, display his shooting prowess in this advent calendar video!

ADVENT: @VictorMoses wreaths havoc today at https://t.co/DoHUZ7AvHQ #WHUFC #WestHam pic.twitter.com/tta4Plm8xP

— West Ham United FC (@whufc_official) December 18, 2015