It’s a potential move that doesn’t exactly have Roma fans queueing up at the megastore to buy shirts with his number on the back, but it’s nonetheless a rumor that’s been making the rounds for a few weeks now. I’m talking of course about Charly Musonda going on loan to The Eternal City for the second half of the season, initially as a replacement for Mo Salah (hey, remember him?) and then as ... who knows ... a bench-warmer?
Roma had supposedly wanted West Ham’s Feghouli but those talks have broken down. They also supposedly wanted Gerard Deulofeu, but he looks to be staying in Everton (or heading to AC Milan). So Musonda it is? By the time they figure this out, the Africa Cup of Nations will be over and Salah will be back in the Italian capital!
It’s a good thing then that Antonio Conte seems to be fairly impressed with what he’s seen so far. He’s certainly talking a lot more about young Charly than, say, Kenedy, no?
“Musonda is a bit different [from Ake] because he wasn’t playing much at Real Betis. He was a player who, in pre-season, I would have liked to see. Now he stays with us, he has good prospects, he can improve a lot and he’s very young.”
“I think if he stays with us to work, to improve physically, technically and tactically, it will be very important for him and for me because for the next few months I can have a good option.”
-Antonio Conte; source: Chelsea FC
Unless we’re doing something outrageously silly like getting Dimitri Payet, keeping Musonda as the de facto Oscar replacement for the second half of the season seems like a pretty solid plan to me.