Antonio Conte has reiterated that Chelsea face decisions over the short-term futures of a number of youngsters and could send them out on loan.
Kenedy and Charly Musonda have returned early from loan spells at Watford and Real Betis respectively because of limited game time and could be loaned out again.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be considered for a loan move too, while the likes of Nathaniel Chalobah and Kurt Zouma are also on the fringes of Blues boss Conte’s squad.
Several clubs, including West Ham, have shown an interest in taking Loftus-Cheek on loan, while there has been speculation that Zouma could be loaned out following his recent recovery from a long-term knee injury.
Conte said: “Kenedy and Musonda came back from their loans because they didn’t play a lot.
“For this reason I think it’s important to stay with us in these weeks to evaluate the best situation for them and for the team.
“January is not easy. We are talking about this to see if we can find the best solution for our squad.
“We have a lot of young players in our squad and I trust in them. We have Ruben and Chalobah and also Kurt Zouma.
“We are talking about players who are 19, 20, 21 years old and it is important to work with this type of player to try to
find the right solution at home, and then if it’s not possible it’s important to look around and find a solution.”
This post was last modified on 30/12/2016