Lesley Ugochukwu is expected to leave Chelsea this summer with the club planning to loan the Frenchman out according to Fabrizio Romano.
The 20-year-old joined from Rennes last summer for around £23m and signed a long term contract at Stamford Bridge.
However, the midfielder is reportedly not seen as a key part of Enzo Maresca’s plans for the upcoming season and is expected to leave on loan to help develop his game.
Ugochukwu to leave on loan
Ugochukwu was called up by Thierry Henry for France’s provisional squad for the Olympics, but despite not making the final cut remained with the squad as a standby option if anyone got injured.
On Friday it was announced that Chelsea had recalled the midfielder and he will return to the club, with Romano reporting that a loan move was being planned as the Blues want him to develop and play on a regular basis.
He took to X.com and said:
“Lesley Ugochukwu, expected to leave Chelsea this summer as club now planning for loan move.
“#CFC want Lesley to develop and play on regular basis. Understand Premier League and Bundesliga clubs are showing concrete interest.”
🚨🔵 Lesley Ugochukwu, expected to leave Chelsea this summer as club now planning for loan move.#CFC want Lesley to develop and play on regular basis.
Understand Premier League and Bundesliga clubs are showing concrete interest. pic.twitter.com/c0YDga686U
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 19, 2024
Ugochukwu made 15 appearances in his debut season, but missed a large part of the campaign with a hamstring injury he picked up around Christmas time, but returned to feature in Chelsea’s final two games against Brighton and Bournemouth.
A loan move makes sense given the amount of options Chelsea have in the middle of the park, and even if Conor Gallagher does depart it appears Ugochukwu is behind the likes of Andrey Santos in the pecking order to be given an opportunity.
The Athletic had reported that Chelsea’s priority would be for Ugochukwu to join a Premier League club, and he was supposedly meant to go out on loan last season, but Mauricio Pochettino wanted him as part of the squad.
The Blues have a decision to make on Gallagher, plus they need to decide what to do with Santos, but in a big boost Romeo Lavia is fit and has been taking part in pre-season training having only played 30 minutes across the whole of last season.
