Lewis Baker set to join Eddie Newton’s Trabzonspor on loan — report

Lewis Baker’s last loan ended in a bit of controversy in Düsseldorf, but the more concerning part is that the player who was once considered the “crowning glory” of the Chelsea Loan Army is now a 25-year-old midfielder about to embark on his ninth loan.

His lone Chelsea appearance remains his debut, a 3-minute cameo at the end of an FA Cup match in January 2014.

Baker popped up in preseason training, as he’s often done over the past six years, but he was not assigned a squad number to make it obvious that his future was not with the first-team, just as it hasn’t been in any of those past six years.

The two years remaining on his contract means that he had some flexibility in choosing his next assignment. According to multiple reports including from Goal, that assignment will be to join Trabzonspor in Turkey, where he will be reunited with former Chelsea assistant and loan liaison Eddie Newton, who certainly knows Baker very well. The Turkish Cup-winners reportedly have an option to buy as well.

Let’s hope this move lets Baker’s talents shine.