Chelsea's Charly Musonda Jr. open to Real Betis return — report

Hampered by injuries for much of the 2017 calendar year, Charly Musonda Jr has been limited to just a handful appearances for Chelsea this season after opting to stay at the club instead of going out on loan. But despite a general feeling of discontent and missed opportunities, the 21-year-old has recently signed a new five-year deal, which was widely expected to make it much more likely that he would hit the loan trail once again in search of consistent playing time.

Sure enough, according to Belgian newspaper Het Laatse Nieuws (via AS), Charly Jr. is open to a loan move in January, and is specifically considering a return to Real Betis, where he spent all of 2016. Musonda had a great fist half-season at Betis in 2016, extending his loan by an additional year after those initial first six months. However, with plenty of coaching upheaval at Betis (and former Chelsea man Gus Poyet’s refusal to play him), Musonda’s playing time and performance suffered and he was recalled in January — though as mentioned above, the injury issues have continued to haunt him ever since.

After avoiding relegation, Betis are back in the mid-table of La Liga so far this season, but are only six points ahead of 18th place Alaves. Perhaps Musonda Jr.'s second half-season spell at the club may help them reach higher plateaus, while the youngster and Chelsea also benefit from his development on the pitch.