Chelsea's forgotten defender to be loaned or possibly sold this January?

According to press reports, Antonio Conte is prepared to allow Baba Rahman to be loaned back to Schalke in Germany this January or even sold outright. 

Unfortunately, with some players when they sign for big clubs they fail to make the grade. Now whether that's down to a lack of game time or not being able to step up when called upon that's for everyone to form their own opinions. In my opinion it's clear that he never impressed the management or coaching staff at Chelsea because he would have still been here otherwise.

Signed in 2015 for £14m rising to a potential £22m based on appearances/bonuses, Baba Rahman came to the club with an expectation on his shoulders having been named as the player who had made the most successful tackles in the 2014 season at FC Augsburg.

Rahman made twenty-three appearances for Chelsea in the 2015-16 season in all competitions but could never really hold down the position as his own. He also made some mistakes in games that cost us dearly in what turned out to be our worst season in years.

So to last summer and Antonio Conte wasn't impressed with what he saw defensively bearing in mind he is an attacking wing-back and loaned him out to Schalke in the Bundesliga for the whole of last season.

It's fair to say that in the thirteen appearances he made before he joined up with Ghana for the African Cup of Nations. It was while he was away there that he suffered an horrific leg injury that required surgery and put an end to his season. He continues to battle back to full fitness to this point and has not featured for anyone since being left out of the Chelsea squad for the first half of the Premier League season.

So to these reports that the club is prepared to either loan or sell him in January with reported interest from Schalke once again. Schalke sporting director Christian Heidel is quoted as saying:

"I would not rule out that we deal with Baba in the winter."

I personally believe that a permanent deal is best for all concerned because it's clear that he is a very different type of player that the manager wants to maintain balance in the side. He isn't the best defensively which is obvious from what we have seen from him in a Chelsea shirt and his strengths are moving forward.

Prepare for Baba Rahman to leave the club and a better defensive replacement coming in.

Article Source: Football London.