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Published February 3, 2025 3:32pm Updated February 3, 2025 3:32pm
Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka is set to join Borussia Dortmund on loan but has been told he should never have moved to Stamford Bridge in the first place.
The midfielder is one of several Chelsea exiles who have secured a deadline day loan exit, including Ben Chilwell who is joining Crystal Palace.
Joao Felix may well move to AC Milan while Aston Villa could land Axel Disasi after he turned down Tottenham.
Chukwuemeka’s transfer has long been expected after the 21-year-old was bluntly told by Enzo Maresca that he would struggle for game time this season.
Sure enough, he has made just four appearances this campaign – none of them starts and just 32 in total for the club since his £20million move from Villa Park in the summer of 2022.
A highly-rated player, Chukwuemeka will be hoping he can get his career going in Dortmund in the same way that other English stars like Jude Bellingham, Jadon Sancho and Jamie Gittens have.
Premier League winning captain Tim Sherwood is glad to see the player depart west London, telling Sky Sports: ‘Better than where he is sitting on a bench playing under-21 games.
‘He shouldn’t have left Aston Villa in hindsight. Leaving Villa and going to Chelsea has not been a good move for him.
‘Financially, it probably has but it’s not about that when you’re his age, it’s about playing games and progressing your career and Borussia Dortmund’s been a good place for a lot of British lads who have gone over there and done exceptionally.
‘I think he’s got a lot of talent I really do. He’s a midfielder I wouldn’t want to play against but he just needs to play on a regular basis.’
Dortmund are covering Chukwuemeka’s wages and paying Chelsea a £2m loan fee, while there is also an option to buy clause in the deal, worth around £41.5m.
Remarkably, the midfielder still has over four years left on his contract, with Arsenal legend and boyhood Chelsea fan Paul Merson criticising players for accepting these lengthy contracts the Blues have been dishing out since the Todd Boehly takeover.
He said: ‘It’ll be a great move to Dortmund but these seven-year contracts turn everybody’s head. If you’ve got faith in your ability and you think you’re a good player, all the good stuff will follow you.
‘Just keep on playing football and everything will follow with you. If you’re not very good it won’t follow, it’s as simple as that.
‘But I don’t think people have the confidence in themselves and they think, “I’m going to take that because that’ll set me up for life”. But then the football goes out of the window and you never end up playing.
‘You want to play football, you want to finish your career with 500-600 games under your belt. If you’ve done that you’ve had an absolutely amazing career.’
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