Lewis Baker set for another two years away from Chelsea on loan — report

Lewis Baker has spent the last two seasons on loan at Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie, and while there was some hope that he could stake a claim on a first-team spot at Chelsea this summer, the writing had been on the wall for the last few weeks that he would not be able to do that.

Even when he did get a few minutes off the bench in pre-season matches, he was deployed as a wide forward rather than a central midfield, which is his natural position and one in which he’s excellent both for the Chelsea youth teams and for Vitesse. And so, even as Chelsea search desperately for a fourth midfielder, Baker nears a potential loan move to some unknown, though probably English, destination.

According to the Northern Echo, that destination will be none other than recently relegated Middlesbrough, and it won’t be for just one season either. The 22-year-old is apparently set for another 2-year spell away from the club, this time in the Championship (though hopefully that part would be remedied by swift promotion this season).

The initial reaction to this is bound to be negative, but the length of the loan should increase the chances of its success and if Baker continues to develop the way we expect him to do so, and he doesn’t get completely fed up with Chelsea in the meantime, we just might be able to trust him in actual competitive games by the time he turns 24...