Labelled as one of the few loanees with the potential to actually breakthrough in Chelsea’s first-team in the near future, Bertrand Traoré is enjoying life in the Netherlands.
Loaned to Ajax Amsterdam until the end of the season instead of playing reserve football waiting for his time, the Burkina Faso international, played mostly on the right, has four goals and four assists to his name in his first 17 appearances.
With a Chelsea contract running out in 2019, there is still plenty of time for the 21-year-old to convince Antonio Conte he deserves to feature for the London club more often, having already made 16 appearances, all coming last season.
However, Foot Mercato report that if Lyon get their way next summer, Traoré might end up playing in Ligue 1 instead.
The website report on Wednesday that Florian Maurice, the French club’s head of recruitment, travelled recently to watch Ajax play AZ Alkmaar, and one of his main focuses was the Chelsea loanee, who scored his side’s first in a 2-2 draw.
Traoré is one of Maurice’s favourites, and Foot Mercato says the focus on the youngster is more for next summer than anything else.
Considering Jean-Michel Aulas recently revealed the club would focus on signing younger players to develop them and sell them on for a profit (that’s the plan with Emmanuel Mammana, for example), Bertrand Traoré falls nicely in that category.
Plus, if Alexandre Lacazette were to leave next year, a replacement would be needed.
