Blues manager Emma Hayes has thinned out her squad as the start of the new season approaches, with a trio of young hopefuls being farmed out to other clubs.
The aim is to give them the regular weekly match experience that they’re unlikely to get at Kingsmeadow, where competition for places among the established internationals is already tight... especially up front.
Striker Aggie Beever-Jones, who turned 18 last month and has made three appearances for Chelsea Women wearing 33, has yet to make the net billow.
But with the wealth of talent pressing Hayes to be in the starting line-up, Beever-Jones’s aim of first-team football for the Blues looks unrealistic without a loan move.
“Aggie has featured regularly in pre-season, and has done well,” said Emma’s deputy, Paul Green, as he announced that she will spend the season at Bristol City in the Championship.
Goalie Emily Orman will have a season at Crystal Palace, who are also one tier below the Women’s Super League, after the 18-year-old signed a Chelsea contract during the summer.
She has already played minor U19 matches for England. Again, Green said the hope was “to continue her development” at Palace.
Meanwhile Charlotte Wardlaw is heading to another Championship side, relegated Liverpool, to spend a season as a defender on Merseyside.
Hayes and Green have promised the young loanees that their progress will be monitored, with a view to bringing them back into their parent club in 2022 or 2023. It's a chance to prove themselves in a slightly less pressured environment.
There’s just a week to go before Chelsea Women’s first WSL match, away to Arsenal, with every Blues player back and in full training.
It is being staged at the Emirates, where Chelsea’s men recently beat their Premier League counterparts 2-0 as Romelu Lukaku scored on his second debut for the club. Sky will broadcast the 12.30pm kick-off match on Sunday 5 September.
It’s a re-run of the women’s 1 August friendly at the stadium, when a Blues team missing many of their superstars lost 2-1 to the Gunners. The pick of the goals came from young Chelsea player Reanna Blades, scoring for the first time at senior level.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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