Chelsea Loan Army round-up: Chalobah, Broja score; Baker wins a cup; Tomori impresses in debut

Chelsea youngster Trevoh Chalobah, who’s on loan at FC Lorient in France, has been playing in a deep midfield role for the Ligue 1 side, and has been one of the few bright sparks for them as they sit in 19th position. Case in point, yesterday’s game against fellow strugglers Dijon, when he took matters into his own hands to open the scoring.

Dijon failed to properly clear a corner, and with the ball at Chalobah’s feet at the edge of the box, he knew just what to do to score his first goal of the season. Better yet, Lorient would go on to win the relegation six-pointer, 3-2, which could prove vital in their hopes of staying up.

Chalobah may not be known for goals, but one man who very much is, is Armando Broja at Vitesse Arnhem.

The 19-year-old scored his seventh of the season yesterday (in 17 appearances, only 9 of which have been starts), although Vitesse would go on to shockingly lose 4-1 to VVV-Venlo and drop to third in the table behind Ajax and PSV.

It was a happier day for one Lewis Baker however, as Trabzonspor beat İstanbul Başakşehir, 2-1 in the Turkish Super Cup.

While Baker only came off the bench in this game, he has played a vital role for the side managed by Eddie Newton at the start of the season, making 19 appearances. Trabzonspor have recovered from their early-season wobble to currently sit 6th place in the Süper Lig table.

Finally, over in Italy, Fikayo Tomori was pressed into action for AC Milan just a few days after his arrival when Simon Kjær hobbled off injured in the 20th minute of Tuesday’s Coppa Italia quarterfinal against arch-rivals Internazionale.

While Milan would go on to lose thanks to a late Christian Eriksen free kick, Tomori played very well and gave his side a fighting chance, especially after Zlatan Ibrahimović, who had opened the scoring in the first-half, was sent off for a second bookable offense. Former Chelsea man Romelu Lukaku equalized for Inter from the penalty spot, but otherwise he was kept relatively quiet whenever matched up against Tomori.

AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli had warned that it might take some time to integrate Tomori, but based on this game’s evidence, the Chelsea loanee is ready to hit the ground running. Hopefully, he can build on this performance and prove himself at one of the best teams in Europe.