Report: Liam Rosenior facing Chelsea decisions before deadline day

Key Highlights

• A talented midfielder, 12 goals on loan at Huddersfield, sold with logic rather than sentiment.
• His contract was running down, there was an option to extend, and Middlesbrough were prepared to pay “over £1million, plus add-ons” with “a sizeable sell-on clause”.
• Sensible business, perhaps, though it again asks whether Chelsea’s academy exists primarily to feed the balance sheet rather than the first team. Photo IMAGOAs one line from the report notes, “Other Championship clubs were keen but second-placed Middlesbrough offer the best chance among his suitors to win promotion to the Premier League.” Opportunity, just not at Stamford Bridge. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYouth Pathways and Short-Term RealityCastledine is not alone.
• Caleb Wiley’s early return from Watford, after just five appearances due to injury, underlines how fragile loan pathways can be.
• Wiley, signed for £8.5million, has “yet to play for Chelsea”, a sentence that lingers longer than it should. There is optimism too.