Thursday 19 October 2017 16:40, UK
Nathaniel Chalobah left for Watford while Charly Musonda stayed at Chelsea, but who made the right decision? The latter is pushing hard for his chance but the wait goes on…
Charly Musonda's exasperation was obvious. "You sacrifice, you work hard, harder, you give more than what's expected, and often more than you can, because you love what you do and clearly more than you should and what do you get back? Literally, nothing."
The Chelsea youngster's social media post appeared to be criticising his club for not giving him more first-team opportunities. That view was seemingly confirmed when his brother Lamisha, now at Belgian club Mechelen, waded in to suggest that even the next Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi would be unlikely to get a chance at Stamford Bridge.
The rebuke was swift but Chelsea boss Antonio Conte offered the carrot as well as the stick. "I spoke with Charly and I think he understood his mistake," said the Italian. "Honestly, I think he has to continue to work very hard to improve himself on the physical aspect and on the tactical aspect, but he is working very well.
"He must continue to work in the way that he is and to be focused on the pitch and not on social media, because social media is not the most important thing for his career. I told him this and my task is to help him always find the right way, not the wrong way. He is a really good prospect to become an important player for Chelsea. I am sure about this.
"He has to continue to work in this way and for sure the opportunity will come. Charly could have a good opportunity this season to play because we only have three No 10s: Hazard, Willian and Pedro. Usually two No 10s play, so this season could be good for him to show that he deserves to play."
With Willian struggling for form, there are Chelsea supporters who feel the youngster already deserves a first Premier League start. While there are concerns about his slender frame even at the age of 21, Musonda offered enough in 25 minutes against Crystal Palace to suggest he is a viable alternative to the out-of-sorts Brazilian. The potential is obvious.
Speaking to Chelsea's former academy coach Adi Viveash in the summer, it was clear that he is a huge admirer of Musonda. The player was part of the team that won the FA Youth Cup and the UEFA Youth League under Viveash in 2015 with the coach recalling his "individual brilliance" and a group of players who "had everything". Even so, the wait goes on.
"Everyone can be critical and have their own opinion about players getting through to the first team at Chelsea," said Viveash. "It has been discussed so many times. But there is only one man who picks the Chelsea first team and that's the manager. That is it.
"It does not mean players are not ready because I am 100 per cent convinced that over the past five years there have been players who were ready to play in Chelsea's first team. That is a discussion for someone else. If they cannot play there and they are good enough then they have to go and play somewhere else."
That is the conclusion that Musonda's long-time team-mate Dominic Solanke made in the summer. Nathaniel Chalobah did the same. The latter will miss out on a return to Stamford Bridge with Watford on Saturday due to injury but he can feel vindicated nevertheless having already made five times as many starts for the Hornets as he made for Chelsea.
Coincidentally, Chalobah, like Solanke, could well have featured more regularly had he stayed given Chelsea's recent injury crisis. N'Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater are missing in midfield, while first-choice striker Alvaro Morata has only just returned following a hamstring problem. Conte has been open about his frustrations.
"The situation is difficult," he said in midweek. "We have to play every three days and it is not simple. Also because, in this moment, we are thin we have to play always the same players." Summer target Radja Nainggolan lined up for opponents Roma on Wednesday and the Chelsea boss clearly wishes the club had added more depth to the squad in the summer.
And yet, there remains an alternative. The option is there to trust in the talents of the country's most successful academy of the past decade. To give the gifted young players at Stamford Bridge the chance to play some Premier League football. Musonda will be waiting to see that team sheet against Watford. Hoping against hope that it's not been for nothing.
