Chelsea have loaned out several players this season in order for them to get more experience and develop as footballers, but one player in particular has shown he could have a future at the club.
Lesley Ugochukwu arrived at Chelsea last summer from French side Rennes in a deal worth £23.5m and made 15 appearances in his debut campaign under Mauricio Pochettino.
The 20-year-old impressed in pre-season, but like with Andrey Santos given the competition for places in midfield he was loaned out to Southampton for the season in order to gain Premier League experience and the Frenchman has impressed in his first few appearances.
Ugochukwu started for the Saints on Tuesday night in their Carabao Cup win against Everton at Goodison Park and put in an impressive display and has already showed signs of improvement especially on the ball.
Ugochukwu missed a large chunk of last season with a hamstring injury and if he can stay fit this will be a big season in his development, and could go some way to determining whether he has a long term future at Stamford Bridge.
The midfielder is a unique profile that Chelsea arguably don’t currently have in their squad and everyone associated with the club will keeping an eye on his performances to see how he develops, as there’s definitely a player in there.