Chelsea youngster Omari Kellyman is reportedly seeking a loan move in January after failing to break into the first team at Stamford Bridge.
The teenager cost a whopping £19million during the summer, despite having only made six senior appearances for Aston Villa. But Blues manager Enzo Maresca did not give him a sniff across the first four matches of the season before he was sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Kellyman is now close to returning, but U21 matches offer his best hope of banking game time before the winter window opens. Maresca sent out a painful message to the 19-year-old by grouping him with the reserves in August, and the reality of scrambling for games in his ultra-competitive squad has seemingly forced him to look elsewhere.
According to BBC Sport, Kellyman is weighing up his loan options with a focus on Championship sides. The attacking midfielder is still new to senior football but he has had opportunities to prove himself with England U19s.
During his injury absence, Kellyman has been ‘working hard‘ on his fitness and putting on muscle in the gym. His return to action comes at an opportune moment, with a number of second-tier sides likely to be enticed by a prospect who set Chelsea back an eight-figure sum.
Maresca has frequently deployed completely different line-ups in the Premier League and cup competitions in an effort to rest players and give everyone a chance to impress.
But for those who have hardly featured in either, like Kellyman, a January exit could be on the horizon. Cesare Casadei is reportedly attracting loan interest from Monza, having started only three Chelsea games across all competitions this term.
The Italian, 21, has been unable to stamp his authority at Stamford Bridge despite working under Maresca on loan at Leicester City last season. Exits also beckon for Ben Chilwell, Deivid Washington and Harvey Vale, who have not had a look-in all campaign.
Although Chelsea chiefs may be put through a busy four-and-a-half weeks next month, Maresca insists he is not even thinking about the window ahead of a packed festive fixture schedule.
« We still have many games before [the window opens], » he said. « We have, I think, six Premier League games plus two Conference League games. We have many, many games before January and our focus is about how many games we have before that. »
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