Mourinho confirms young trio are staying with Chelsea this season

Here's something actually important that's come out from yesterday's preseason match against New York Red Bulls.

Victor Moses, Bertrand Traoré, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all got to play 45 minutes, with the first two starting and impressing and the latter coming on at half-time and impressing not nearly as much.  While all indications have pointed to the trio staying, training, and playing with Chelsea this season, after the defeat, Mourinho has left no doubt about their futures indeed being with the rest of the first-team.

On Victor Moses: "He's strong, he's experienced, he's fast, he's aggressive. He has to learn how to play with us obviously, but I'm happy with his week, with his 45 minutes. The next match, 45 more minutes. Victor had an evolution over the past couple years."

On Bertrand Traore: "He's 19; he's a kid. He was in Africa, he was at Vitesse, now he comes to Chelsea. He's not going on loan. We want to keep him and we want to improve him. With the ball he has a lot of talent, but sometimes he doesn't make the right decisions yet. But this is absolutely normal, so step-by-step. But I repeat, he is not going on loan, he stays."

On Ruben Loftus-Cheek: "He has lots of talent and we know that. He's another one that I am not interested in letting go on loan. I want to keep him because he has to improve a lot. In this moment, he is far from being in condition to play for us."

-Jose Mourinho; source: NBC Sports

So not universal praise, not that we should expect that at this point.  But it's great to hear that all three will be staying with us this season.  Like new signings, no, as some would say?