Over the past few seasons, Chelsea has become infamous for stockpiling talent. The Blues send more players out on loan than any other Premier League club. However, that strategy is slowly beginning to change. While the West London club still loans an extraordinary number of players out to their affiliates across Europe (12 this summer alone), they have also started to adopt the continental model of allowing young players to leave on a permanent transfer and inserting a buy-back clause into the deal as insurance.
Clubs such as Barcelona has been making use of this practice for years and the model has slowly crept into the English game with Manchester United inserting buy-back clauses into transfers over recent years also.
The transfer model is very clever as it provides the selling club with immediate transfer funds from the sale of their young prospect while also giving them first-option to buy the player back should the player fulfill their potential.
Chelsea currently boasts an excellent squad, however, they may consider bringing one or all of the following young players back to Stamford Bridge should the need arise.
Below, we look at three former Chelsea players who all have buy-back clauses inserted into their transfer agreements when they moved from Stamford Bridge.
#3 Nathan Ake
Nathan Ake arrived at Chelsea as a youth for a nominal fee from Feyenoord in 2011. A very high-rated defender, Ake spent just one season with the Chelsea under-18 team before linking up with the first team in 2012.
He made his Premier League debut for the Blues in December of that year at the age of 17 and played the odd cameo role for the club throughout the rest of the 2012/13 Premier League season. At the end of the season, he was voted as Chelsea’s Young Player of the Year.
However, he failed to establish himself in the Chelsea first team and became a member of the yearly loan exodus from Stamford Bridge. In 2015, he was loaned to Reading for a month before moving to Watford for the 2015/16 season.
#2 Bertrand Traore
Bertrand Traore is another player that was spotted by Chelsea scouts at a young age and swiftly brought into the youth setup at Stamford Bridge.
Having come through the youth ranks at Auxerre in France, Traore moved to Chelsea in 2013 for an undisclosed fee reportedly rejecting an offer from Manchester United to link up with the London club. After spending a year with the Chelsea under-21 team, the forward was quickly loaned out to Vitesse, a Chelsea affiliate club in the Netherlands for six months.
Upon his return, he was named in the Chelsea first team squad for the 2015/16 Premier League season. During this time he played 10 times for the Blues, scoring twice. However, he once again entered the loan merry-go-round the following year with a season-long move to Ajax.
After an impressive stint with the Dutch giants, including playing in their 2-0 Europa League defeat to Manchester United, Traore caught the eye of many European clubs who were eager to sign the 22-year-old.
#1 Nathaniel Chalobah
However, in 2017, his first loan club, Watford came in with a €6.3 million offer which was accepted by the Blues. The transfer included a buy-back clause for an unspecified amount and demonstrated Chelsea’s change in attitude towards young players by allowing them to secure permanent moves rather than endless loans.
However, in 2017, his first loan club, Watford came in with a €6.3 million offer which was accepted by the Blues. The transfer included a buy-back clause for an unspecified amount and demonstrated Chelsea’s change in attitude towards young players by allowing them to secure permanent moves rather than endless loans.
If there is one player which personifies Chelsea’s youth policy over the past few years it is Nathaniel Chalobah. Having joined the Blues Academy from Fulham in 2005, the midfielder has been shipped out on loan all over the place before eventually securing a permanent transfer away from Stamford Bridge.
Chalobah spent five years in the Chelsea youth ranks before moving on loan to Watford, who were in the Championship at the time, for the 2012/13 season. He then spent six months at Nottingham Forrest, Middlesborough, Burnley, and Reading consecutively over the next two years.
For the 2015/16 season, he finally secured a full season loan with Serie A team, Napoli. Having made only five appearances for the Naples club, he finally got a chance in the Chelsea first team, playing a handful of games throughout the 2016/17 season under Antonio Conte.
However, in 2017, his first loan club, Watford came in with a €6.3 million offer which was accepted by the Blues. The transfer included a buy-back clause for an unspecified amount and demonstrated Chelsea’s change in attitude towards young players by allowing them to secure permanent moves rather than endless loans.