Rodgers implies lack of playing time at Celtic is all Musonda’s fault

If Chelsea were to recall Charly Musonda Jr just 6 months into his 18-month loan from Celtic, it would probably be the least surprising development surrounding the football club this summer. The kid has hardly kicked a ball competitively over the last 24 months — just 824 minutes of first-team action combined for Real Betis, Chelsea, and Celtic — and the last thing he needs now is more bench time. He’s seen more action on his Instagram account, in fact, than on the football pitch.

His current coach at Celtic, Brendan Rodgers, wouldn’t be surprised either, though he’s once again claimed that Musonda is “happy” despite not playing.

“I think if you’d seen Charly last week when we won, he was happy.”

[...]

“They may well [recall him]. There is an agreement in place which is fairly relaxed.

“He’s probably not played as much as he would have liked, but there are obviously reasons for that.”

Reasons so far have included Brendan Rodgers, Brendan Rodgers, and Brendan Rodgers, who’s done this to Chelsea at least three times now (McEachran, Moses, Musonda), though he claims that he’s done well with loanees whose last name did not begin with an ‘M’.

“I haven’t heard anything [from Chelsea], but every club when they send a player out understand that the player goes to play as many games as they can.

[...]

“There are stories around these things, but I’m experienced with working with players.

“I’ve seen some snippets of it, Ryan Bertrand was mentioned. I took Ryan to Reading and he did fantastic.

“I took Victor Moses with me to Liverpool. He didn’t play as much, but [Phillippe] Coutinho was playing one side and [Raheem] Sterling the other and they were doing great. He still had games in that season.

“I’ve taken Jack Cork and Liam Bridcutt from Chelsea, who did great. Across the board, I’ve taken lots of players from lots of clubs and given them opportunities.

“Ultimately, it’s down to the players.”

-Brendan Rodgers; source: Daily Record

Down to the whom? To the players?

Well, your move, Charly.