Kenedy and Charly Musonda look set to stay on at Chelsea for the remainder of the season, due to the club’s inability to make any last minute signings.
According to a report in The Telegraph, Chelsea are set to retain the young attacking duo of Kenedy and Charly Musonda for the rest of the season. They were recalled from unsuccessful loan spells earlier this year and will spend the remainder of the current campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Kenedy had a fine debut campaign for Chelsea last term and showed a lot of promise in what was a disastrous season for the Blues. He was expected to see more of the first team under Antonio Conte, but instead he found himself being shipped out on loan to Watford.
There he suffered a long term knee injury, from which he never really recovered and so was never allowed to show his potential under Walter Mazzarri. He would make only 1 Premier League appearance, a 15 minute cameo in a 0-2 loss against Burnley.
He has since returned to Chelsea and managed to recover from that injury and has been linked with a loan move to Brazilian side Flamengo, who were reportedly interested in taking the youngster back to his native country for the remainder for the campaign.
He made his first Chelsea appearance of the season in the Blues’ 4-0 FA Cup fourth round victory against Brentford, essentially ruling out any possible move away.
Musonda had a very promising loan spell at Real Betis last term, where he made 16 appearances and scored 1 goal. In an effort to build on that and further his development, he signed on with the club for another whole season.
However, he was only restricted to 8 appearances this season prior to suffering a knee injury, which would keep him out for the remainder of the campaign. Because of that, the Belgian’s loan spell was cut short and he returned to Cobham in a bid to rehabilitate.
He was linked with a loan move to Roma and Chelsea have reportedly rejected AC Milan’s advances to take the 20-year-old on loan for the remainder of the campaign. He is yet to appear for Chelsea this season, meaning that he could have still made a last minute move, but that seems unlikely.
It is very likely that Chelsea’s inability to sign Kolasinac, Biabiany and Dembele today has led to their decision to retain the talented duo. Kenedy can play at left-back, on the left-wing or even as a left wing-back which should give him more opportunities to get more game time, while Musonda can step in for any of Chelsea’s front 3 if the need ever arose.
Training with Conte and familiarising themselves with his philosophy will be nothing but beneficial, and they may also prove to capable backup when needed.
