“The problem is the same for you”, “You can hardly make bench” – Thierry Henry sends lack of playing time message to Chelsea star
France U-21 manager and former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has issued a warning to 19-year-old Chelsea midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu, who signed for the club from Rennes in a £23 million deal.
The young Frenchman moved to west London in August as Todd Boehly and the Chelsea board continued to bring in players from all over Europe.
However, manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted that Ugochukwu was bought with a plan to loan him back. Speaking during the club’s pre-season tour, the Argentine said:
“My information is he is a player that is from France that maybe they are signing with the idea to send on some loan, using a different club but that information was already in your laptop.”
Later it emerged that Chelsea decided to evaluate the player until the end of the transfer window.
While Lesley Ugochukwu remained at the club, others such as Cesare Casadei and Andrey Santos were loaned out.
Ugochukwu has played 410 minutes for the Blues across competitions this season, with eight appearances in the Premier League and three in the EFL Cup. He has often come off the bench for Pochettino’s team, with his latest appearance being in their 4-4 draw against Manchester City.
This lack of game-time has worried France U-21 manager Thierry Henry, who did not sound optimistic about Ugochukwu’s chances of breaking into Chelsea’s first team.
“The problem is the same with Lesley, even if the situation is different at Chelsea because in front of him there are players like Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. But he’s not playing, and nowadays, these players don’t even play with the reserve side to keep their rhythm.
“At the start of the season, you can benefit from the physical conditioning of the pre-season but the benefits fade and I hope he can continue to keep on course physically.”
While Ugochukwu can still move on loan in the winter transfer window, it remains to be seen what the Blues decide to do.