If you’re a young player and you decided to stay at Chelsea this summer, it proved to be an excellent decision.
The transfer ban, coupled with Frank Lampard’s willingness to blood the kids, has worked out in everyone’s favour as Chelsea’s young guns have all proven their worth.
One man who decided to depart was Ola Aina as he headed to Torino in a £9m deal, but it seems the 23-year-old is struggling to impress in Italy.
Tuttosport cover his situation today and say that Aina has taken ‘a clear step backwards’ at the club this season.
They had considered him a ‘safe investment’, but his performances have not been good enough, and they now doubt the ‘goodness of the investment’.
The £9m they paid makes the Nigerian their fifth most expensive signing ever.
While Aina’s ‘impressive physical exuberance’ has been on display since day one, it has not been accompanied by improvements to both the technical and tactical sides of his game.
Aina has struggled to prove himself to such an extent that Tuttsport says he has six months to ‘change gears’ and prove himself to the club.
They are now looking for another right-back to push him on and it seems he’s got a lot of work on to turn things around, though.
Unlike plenty of other deals, this is one Chelsea seem unlikely to end up regretting in the long run.
