Chelsea send midfielder to Stoke as probable precursor to Begovic deal

Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel will spend the 2015/16 season with Stoke City FC on loan, probably as part of Asmir Begovic coming the other way.

Marco van Ginkel has today joined Stoke City on a season-long loan... http://t.co/3gps0BXrC5 pic.twitter.com/jqn51aFSOj

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) 10 julho 2015

Van Ginkel arrived in London two seasons ago, and got off to a good start with the Blues. Unfortunately, a serious knee injury cost him most of his first season at Chelsea, and left him the victim of a numbers crunch the following summer. Marco also struggled with injury to start the 2014/15 season, which he spent at AC Milan, before becoming a key piece for the Serie A side during the second half of the campaign.

While Serie A is generally fairly entertaining (with the exception of the title 'chase'), the overall quality of the league is nowhere near what Marco will face regularly in the Premier League. That said, I'd have to think that the player will get plenty of minutes at Stoke, as their midfield was never very good to begin with, and they've just lost Steven N'Zonzi to Sevilla. This should be a great opportunity for the player to give Chelsea fans a first-hand look at what he can do, and get plenty of minutes to continue his development.

Best of luck in Stoke, Marco.