Transfer News: Chelsea are exploring loan options for their summer signing Gabriel Slonina
According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea are looking at the potential loan options for their summer signing Gabriel Slonina. The 18-year-old trained with the club for the first time last week.
Slonina played his final season for Chicago Fire in the MLS before coming to Cobham last week to train with the Chelsea squad. The Blues believe he needs a loan move to continue his development on the right track.
While Chicago could take him back on a temporary basis for another season, options in Europe and in the Championship are also open. If he is to make it in the Chelsea team, choosing one of the latter two options could be beneficial.
Slonina is touted to make the USA men’s national team’s World Cup squad. Any loan move can be sanctioned in January, after the global tournament in Qatar.
So, he currently has time to train with Chelsea and then go to the World Cup with the national team and come back in December to decide about his future.
The 18-year-old visited the last two Blues games against Brentford and Manchester United. Both ended in a draw. The game against United was his first viewing at Stamford Bridge and he would have liked everything that he saw apart from the late blunder from Ben Chilwell and arguably Kepa Arrizabalaga to concede the late equaliser.
Whatever happens regarding his future, Slonina would definitely benefit from training with three top-class goalkeepers at Chelsea. We all know how good and experienced the trio of Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marcus Bettinelli are.
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- Transfer News: Kevin Campbell tips Chelsea to sign Cristiano Ronaldo on loan in January
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Training with them would also offer the 18-year-old a slight exposure to the game in England, which can be helpful if he goes to the Championship or in Europe during his loan spell next year – although there is no clarity as to where he could be heading or which clubs are interested in him.