Young Chelsea starlet Charly Musonda will be playing for Spanish club Real Betis this season, staying for the full year this time, after his successful spell at the club in the second half of the last season. At Betis, the Belgian will have the chance to work under the guidance of former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet, who played for the Blues from 1997 to 2001 before switching to Spurs (boo!).
In an interview with Spanish newspaper Marca, the former Brighton, Sunderland, and AEK Athens manager spoke of his relief at having Musonda sign up for the season. His quotes definitely give the impression that Musonda will be playing a key role.
"Musonda gave the summer to us, I would say. He was set [to stay] here, then he wasn't... it was a never-ending summer. At the end he stayed and he gave us peace of mind because it's very hard to find a player of his characteristics."
"When the deal was all done, something always came along to hamper it because he was in demand by so many clubs. It gives us freedom to have a footballer in the squad that will dribble, and grow. His manager at the Belgian U21 national team [Enzo Scifo] already said that he needs to score more often. He reassured me on that, [otherwise] I would be worried."
-Gus Poyet; source: Marca
Musonda did well in racking up his dribbling statistics last season; now he needs to work on translating those into goalscoring chances for himself and his teammates. Fortunately, at just 19, he has plenty of room to learn and develop, and it sounds like Poyet will give him plenty of opportunities to do so.
Musonda has a chance to become a truly world class player; hopefully this year will prove to be one important an significant step in that process.