Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has stated today that they will fight tooth and nail to keep Chelsea midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah even beyond his season-long loan. The midfielder joined the Serie A outfit for the 2015/16 campaign on deadline day, but the Blues did not include a buy option in the clause.
De Laurentiis though, is obviously a big fan of Chalobah and wants to make him an integral part of the side. He said in an interview, as quoted here by Gianluca Di Marzio, “I hope he does well, we acquired him on a dry loan, Chelsea didn’t give us the option to buy him, but should he prove to be an important player during the season we’ll go on the offensive to keep him.”
The 20 year-old has been at Chelsea since 2005, but is yet to make a single senior appearance for the side in any competition. This is his 6th loan outing in the last 3 years, but is by far the most high-profile one yet. Previously, he played with 4 teams in the Championship and with Burnley in the Premier League.
Chalobah may have doubts over his Chelsea future, as he has been touted as a future star for some time, but is yet to receive the opportunity to make an impact. Even though the Blues had a problem in central midfield this season, he wasn’t retained in the squad by Jose Mourinho. But, at the tender age of 20, he will know that there is a long way to go.
He has been included by Napoli in the Europa League squad, and should get plenty of opportunities to prove his worth at the top level. The Italians failed in their attempts to sign Roberto Soriano from Sampdoria before the transfer deadline, and will therefore turn to Chalobah to come up with the goods.
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