Charly Musonda Jr ready to find success at Vitesse

In the last hour of the last day of the summer loan window, it was decided that Charly Musonda Jr would take his talents Eastward, to Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie for the season. As it turns out, it was literally in the final hour that all i’s were dotted and all the t’s crossed.

“It was very hectic, I said ‘yes’ and then I had to rush to Stamford Bridge to sign [the deal]. It was a race against the clock, yes, by car in London, and paperwork was arranged 11:45pm Dutch time, fifteen minutes before the deadline.”

A deal could have been arranged earlier, but Charly took a while to realise that he would be best served by trying his luck on loan once again, rather than staying at Stamford Bridge to scrap for paltry minutes.

“Why everything came about so late? That’s football. I first wanted to wait for Chelsea chances...”

Vitesse is often the first step for many a Chelsea Loan Army warrior. For Musonda, it’s loan number three (or four), with two six-month stints at Real Betis and another at Celtic preceding it already. As the lengths of his stays indicate, other than the first six months at Betis, they were not exactly successful.

Can he turn that around in the Netherlands? He has a fair bit of knowledge in the ways things can go bad on loan (injuries, lack of motivation, coaching changes, inexplicable squad selections), so he’s surely due for a good experience. He certainly has the talent to carry on the proud tradition of impactful Chelsea loanees at the club, especially some of the most recent ones in Lewis Baker, Matt Miazga, and Mason Mount.

“Vitesse showed interest for three years. I was honoured, but I chose other adventures. They were educational adventures. The start was good at Betis, then I had less playing time. And at Celtic I experienced European football, but I did not get enough minutes there either. Now it’s all come to this, and I’m happy. Vitesse is a nice club with European ambitions.”

At this point in his career, there is still time for Charly to live up expectations. Or he could end up being another classic case of a player not quite reaching such heights despite all the hype. For now, the goal is more immediate and achievable: have a good season at Vitesse.

“With a Chelsea player, expectations are always high, but I am still young. On the other hand, I have learned, I have to use all those experiences, the good and the bad, in the Eredivisie now in my favor.”

-Charly Musonda Jr; source: De Gelderlander via Google Translate

Make it so!