Lewis Baker has been at or near the top of the Chelsea hot prospect charts for a few years now, though so far this season, it's the teenager Tammy Abraham who's been grabbing most of the loanee headlines thanks to his ten goals already before the end of September! But we certainly shouldn't forget about Baker, who's off to a fantastic start in his second season on loan at Chelsea B Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie.
This past weekend's wonderstrike was his fourth goal of the season already (and third in three games), continuing his great form from the summer's Toulon Tournament where he finished top scorer. Not bad for a midfielder.
"Last season, the manager played me in all three central midfield positions - four, eight and 10. It was a bit mix and match. The new manager has seen more of my qualities and realises where I'm more dangerous, so I've been playing in the number eight position on the left of a midfield three where I get in the box, create and score goals as well."
In his interview with the Chelsea official website, Baker talks about feeling settled in the Netherlands, working with on-loan Chelsea coach Andy Myers, and what it's like to play in a "more technical" league like the Eredivisie. But most of all, he talks about wanting to improve (and improve "on all different areas" of his game) so that he can get back the Chelsea.
"I have scored a few goals, yeah. I will take a fantastic goal but I will also take any kind of goal! I want to score as many as I can, assist as many as I can. I work a lot on my finishing in training and at the moment it's paying off."
"It's just the start of the season but I need to keep doing my best every day and keep improving so I can get back to Chelsea, where I'd like to be."
-Lewis Baker; source: Chelsea FC
I think most Chelsea fans would like to see Lewis in Chelsea blue as well (which we've seen only once, for 10 minutes, in the third round of the 2013-14 FA Cup). Or as former youth head coach Dermot Drummy put it in his inimitable direct style on Twitter:
I'm in changing room with Jose and he asks me who is ready. And I said Lewis Baker. But what do I know.
— Dermot Drummy (@dermotdrummy7) September 25, 2016