After a long and thorough conversation with Thomas Tuchel last summer, Carney Chukwuemeka could not wait to get started at Chelsea.
The 19-year-old midfielder, who was at Aston Villa at the time, was the subject of strong interest from the Blues. After a detailed chat with then head coach Tuchel, Chukwuemeka was persuaded to move to Stamford Bridge in a deal that would eventually be worth £20million.
Tuchel assured the young midfielder he would be given opportunities to showcase his talents in the first-team at Chelsea – a major factor in luring him to Stamford Bridge. However, Chukwuemeka played just 15 times for Chelsea – in all competitions – during his debut season with the club. Only two of those 15 appearances came from the start.
He was reduced to just 345 minutes in the Premier League. As a youngster trying to express yourself and convince the manager of your talents, that is not enough time. Chukwuemeka did show glimpses of his incredible talent, though, and many Chelsea supporters were calling on the youngster to be handed more minutes in the first-team.
The Austria-born midfielder, who represents England Under-20s, now has a big summer transfer window ahead of him. Chukwuemeka needs to have a conversation with newly-appointed head coach Mauricio Pochettino about his role in the squad next season. Whether or not he appears in the Argentine's plans or perhaps a loan move would be more beneficial.
As reported at the beginning of May, Chelsea would consider loaning Chukwuemeka out ahead of next season. That, football.london understands, remains the case but only if the club were to bring in multiple midfielders before the summer transfer window closes. Otherwise the Blues would be left very short of options in the centre of midfield.
READ MORE: Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All of the latest updates coming out of Stamford Bridge
Chelsea have already sold Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mateo Kovacic this summer, while N'Golo Kante has left the club on a free transfer. football.london understands the Blues are open to offers for Conor Gallagher, with Tottenham among the clubs interested in the England international.
Keeping Chukwuemeka around does offer Chelsea something they haven't got elsewhere; a skilful, direct and powerful midfielder who is really energetic. We saw in the penultimate game of last season, away at Manchester United, there were a few instances where he drove at the Red Devils' defence and they were unable to stop him in his tracks.
He has that rare power for a midfielder – the sort of power that is really difficult to stop once he gets going. It's the sort of power we've seen from Loftus-Cheek over the years for Chelsea and we all know how difficult it is to stop him once he is in his stride.
Chukwuemeka himself has admitted his favoured position is as a No.8 on the left-hand side of a midfield-three. Pochettino has used the 4-3-3 formation during his managerial career so it's perhaps something we will see during the Argentine's debut season in west London.
"I'm probably most comfortable as a left 8 in a three," Chukwuemeka said to Chelsea's official website at the start of the year. "But further forward I can drift off the line, or stay out wide. It gives me that freedom to drive with the ball and receive it in pockets.
"Growing up in the academy at Villa I did play in multiple positions in the midfield and the forward line. I was used to it, and used to learning different roles playing for England as well at youth level.
"I have had to adapt throughout my career so far. it is always good to be versatile. You never know when you'll be needed in different positions."
It does indeed help to be versatile but for Chukwuemeka, he needs to establish a role in the midfield and make it his own next season. If he can do that, then he could potentially lock down a position in Chelsea's midfield for the foreseeable future.
