Chelsea have loaned out so many players that they’re now loaning coaches, with one of their backroom staff joining AFC Wimbledon for a spell.
Over the years the Blues have been known for their stockpiling an incredible amount of talent and sending them out on loan.
Matej Delac for example first signed his contract in 2009 for the Blues, stayed until 2018 and didn’t play a single game for the club but went on loan to 10 different teams.
In recent years the likes of Mason Mount and Reece James have benefited more from the loan system, and returned to Stamford Bridge after time in the Championship to become first team players.
Now Chelsea have moved on to the next level of temporary moves, by sending Under 18s assistant manager James Simmonds to League One side AFC Wimbledon until December, according to the Daily Mail.
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| Mason Mount’s time at Derby got him ready for the Premier League. Image: PA Images |
Simmonds was actually part of the youth team in west London with Jack Cork and Scott Sinclair, with those two players going on loan to six different teams during their time with the Blues.
Whilst he is normally part of the youth set up, Simmonds will actually be coaching the Wimbledon first team in the third tier.
The hope is that the move will be a win-win-win for the three parties, with Simmonds getting more experience coaching, which he can bring back to the Premier League side, whilst the Plough Lane club will get a good coach for six months.
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| Simmonds in two very unflattering pictures playing for Chelsea Reserves vs Charlton Athletic in 2006. Images: PA Images |
Perhaps Chelsea’s biggest transfer fail of recent times was with a player they sent on loan but never reintegrated into the first team, Kevin de Bruyne.
The Belgian joined in January 2012, went back to Gent on loan for the rest of the season and then moved to Werder Bremen for the 2012/13 season.
He eventually played just nine games for the English side before being sold to Wolfsburg and eventually became the world class midfielder we now know at Manchester City.
It was Jose Mourinho’s choice to sell the 30-year-old, but he refuses to believe it was an error. “He wanted to leave, he wanted to go to Germany where he was previously on loan and so happy, and his decision was to go. He put big pressure on that and it worked very well for him,” the Roma boss recently told talkSPORT.
“…Sometimes us coaches make mistakes, but that was not the case. I saw he had the potential to do it, but he just knew perfectly well what he wanted.”
Featured Image Credit: PA