Chelsea paint themselves into corner with transfer dealings – 2 huge decisions left to make

Caleb Wiley signed for Chelsea from Atalanta United this summer, but the understanding of the deal was always that he would be immediately loaned out to our sister club Strasbourg.

That has indeed now happened. The club yesterday confirmed that the left back had joined the Alsatians for the season. It’s a good move for him, and hopefully for them too. But it does chop off another major avenue for Chelsea in terms of their international loan slots.

Wiley joins Aaron Anselmino and Andrey Santos in having confirmed a move outside England on loan. That makes 3 of 6 secured. Goalkeeper Mike Penders has not yet officially been announced as a Chelsea player, but the expectation is that that will happen this week, and the Genk player will remain in Belgium for the year.

A battle for 2 vital slots

That leaves just two slots, and a huge number of high value first team players who might need it.

The intention is clearly to sell Romelu Lukaku and Kepa Arrizabalaga permanently so that they don’t use up those two. But that’s easier said than done – it’s been the plan for a few summers in a row now. Then there’s goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, who in the space of one injury has gone from first choice to unwanted and unneeded.

Then there are quite literally a dozen others who might need it – Armando Broja, Angelo Gabriel, David Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cesare Casadei, Carney Chukwuemeka. The list goes on.

Any of these players could simply be loaned to an English club, but that massively limits the options available to them and to us in terms of trying to make sure they have the most productive season possible.

What happens next will be truly fascinating – there are about 20 deals to do and about 20 days to do them in.