Chelsea have a lot of players out on loan at the moment, with some at Premier League clubs.
The above includes the likes of Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Lesley Ugochukwu.
Kepa was ineligible to play over the weekend, with Bournemouth hosting his parent club Chelsea.
However, Sterling made his debut for Arsenal, while Ugochukwu was handed a first Premier League start at Southampton. Southampton fans were impressed with Ugochukwu’s first appearance for the club, which came in the Carabao Cup against Cardiff City last month.
Russell Martin praises Lesley Ugochukwu after Manchester United performance
Ugochukwu’s Premier League debut for Southampton came in a game against Manchester United, which the Saints lost.
Nevertheless, manager Russell Martin was still happy with Ugochukwu’s performance.
Speaking to the Southern Daily Echo about the midfielder after the match, Martin said: “I thought he was good. I think he’ll get better and better. I think he is understanding what we want, and what we require from him will continue to grow. So yeah, I thought he was good.
“He got a bit tired as well. He’d been injured for a while at Chelsea last season and then he came back and was knackered after 60 minutes against Cardiff.
“Being away on international duty, although he didn’t play, being away is different, your routine, the way you train. He did well and he’s going to be really good.”
Chelsea have a lot of midfielders, but they will want to reintegrate Ugochukwu into their squad at some stage. Chelsea believe Ugochukwu is similar to Aurelien Tchouameni of Real Madrid.
Southampton a good place for Lesley Ugochukwu to develop
With the amount of quality midfield options that Enzo Maresca has, it made sense for Ugochukwu to go out on loan.
St Mary’s was an appropriate destination for the 20-year-old, who should be able to get regular game time in the Premier League there this season.
It really is important for Ugochukwu to get minutes during this campaign after his injury problems last term. It halted his development, but Chelsea will now be hoping that this loan move to Southampton can put him back on the right track.
Martin does seem to be a fan of him. “Lesley is a brilliant athlete,” he told Southampton’s official website following the French youngster’s arrival at the club.
Ugochukwu impressed during Chelsea’s pre-season and perhaps did enough to earn a place in Maresca’s squad. But again, he needs to play, and that was unlikely to happen at Chelsea with the likes of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez around.
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