Chelsea youngsters Aké, Brown, Palmer, Traoré, Zouma linked with loan moves, or worse

With over 50 players under professional contracts, it’s only inevitable that some good players and hopeful names will have to make choices that will not please all fans. This is simply the nature of the multi-headed beast that is the Chelsea squad, Loan Army, and Academy assembly line of talent.

Here are four of those fifty-odd who are making transfer news lately.

NATHAN AKÉ:

In an excellent interview with the Guardian, the 22-year-old confirms intentions to look for a situation that will have him playing more minutes than he received during the second-half of the season at Chelsea after getting recalled from his loan at AFC Bournemouth. Whether that’d be on another loan next season or a permanent transfer away will be decided after sitting down with Emenalo & Co. Bournemouth had already expressed strong interest. Aké does speak highly of Conte in the interview, for whatever that’s worth.

“The main thing for me is to play games. Whether it is here, whether it is somewhere else, I don’t know yet. I need to see what Michael [Emenalo] thinks. That’s what we need to discuss and see where we go from there.”

-Nathan Aké; source: Guardian

KURT ZOUMA:

Aké’s fellow young defender in need of minutes has now been linked with a loan move to Nice. Marseille have also been mentioned recently. Zouma has been looking the most likely out of any current Chelsea first-teamer to head back out on loan, in part to help him finish his rehab from the ACL injury suffered last year.

BERTRAND TRAORÉ:

Much like Aké and Zouma, Traoré has already played a part in a Chelsea first-team, but now is looking more likely to (continue) traipsing the loan path. Unless he’s tired of the grind and is looking to leave. Which could very well be the case for Traoré, which is fine, as long as we insert a buy-back clause. He’s been linked with Lyon recently, alongside a trio of Bundesliga options in Schalke 04, RB Leipzig, and Hoffenheim.

IZZY BROWN & KASEY PALMER:

A bit closer to home, both Brown and Palmer have expressed a desire to stay with Huddersfield Town after helping the Championship side get promoted to the Premier League this season. Unfortunately for the duo, only one of them can remain there on loan as per Premier League rules. According to the Mail, it’s Brown who could thus move on, though the fee mooted is a hilariously low £5m. Palmer meanwhile feels he’s got unfinished business because of the injury that kept him out for most of the second-half of the season.

“Of course, I want to stay. To be part of it this season, I feel like I don’t want to leave it now. It is unfinished work. So hopefully we can enjoy the next few days and then the talks will begin ahead of the next season.”

“I think if we would have stayed in the league [Championship] then I would have loved to have come back anyway. We have gone up so it is an even bigger incentive to come back so we will just see what happens over the next few weeks and take it from there.”

-Kasey Palmer; source: Goal