Pochettino banishes another Chelsea defender as suitors prepare January loan rescue
Trevoh Chalobah captaining Chelsea during pre-season
Chelsea are not considering Trevoh Chalobah as part of their plans for the first team and could send him out on loan in January, a report has revealed.
Chalobah was the subject of interest from Bayern Munich and Nottingham Forest during the summer transfer window. However, Bayern failed to agree to a permanent transfer and Forest were unable to convince the player himself.
According to the Evening Standard, Chalobah is now at serious risk of being ‘frozen out’ by Mauricio Pochettino. Deemed ‘surplus to requirements’ after the summer signing of Axel Disasi from Monaco, the defender is said to want to move to a club of a similar calibre to Chelsea.
With that in mind, Bundesliga champions Bayern are still in contention to sign the 24-year-old. Managed by former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, who gave him his Premier League debut back in August 2021, they were keen to organise a loan deal for Chalobah on deadline day.
Although that move failed, the report claims Bayern are ‘not ruling out’ another attempt to sign Chalobah on loan when the transfer window opens again in January.
Chelsea still have Chalobah under contract until 2028, with the option of a further year, but the fact they no longer count on him as a key player suggests they may be open to doing business.
Chelsea stuck with Chalobah after unrealistic asking price
During the summer, they set an excessive £50m asking price for their academy graduate, which probably worked against their hopes of offloading him. When the time comes for his next step, a loan move may be more realistic.
Earlier in his career, the former England youth international (who was born in Sierra Leone) embarked on loan spells at Ipswich Town, Huddersfield Town and Lorient.
Chalobah now looks likely to have to leave Chelsea again after falling down their pecking order. He is the latest defender to be cast aside by Pochettino, after Malang Sarr was also the subject of speculation about a departure.
Reports have suggested Sarr’s exit could come even sooner, since he has suitors in Turkey, where the transfer window remains open until Friday.
As for Chalobah, Chelsea will likely keep hold until January. Whether he gets the chance to add to his 63 appearances for the club is up for question – and not only because of the thigh injury he is currently dealing with.
Tuchel gave Chalobah almost half of those outings for Chelsea and could still consider taking him to Germany for the first time in his career. It is likely that Champions League football will still be on offer at Bayern by January, as long as they qualify from their group (which contains Manchester United, Galatasaray and Copenhagen).
Thus, it is not just because of gametime that the proposed move would represent a step up from Chalobah’s situation at Chelsea, since they are out of Europe altogether this season following last season’s 12th-place finish in the Premier League.
Bayern have been evolving their defence in recent months after the departures of Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard, but the arrival of Kim Min-jae. There is a chance that adding Chalobah to their backline could yet be the next phase of its regeneration.
