Chelsea are known to have a partnership with Dutch side, Vitesse, in which Chelsea send their young talent to help Vitesse and in return Vitesse nurture the players and help them grow in order to help them become the players Chelsea want them to be.
Since Vitesse was bought by Roman Abramovich’s Georgian friend, Merab Jordania, Chelsea have been sending a plethora of their youth to the Dutch side, such as Patrick Van Aanholt(now at Sunderland), Lucas Piazon(Still unable to break into first team), Joshua McEachran(wasted talent), Gael Kakuta(recently sold to Sevilla), and the list goes on and on and on.
But in that partnership between the clubs Chelsea also managed to purloin Marco Van Ginkel from the Arnhem based side.
In the summer of 2013 Van Ginkel was purchased from Vitesse and was deemed to be the ‘Next Big Thing’ at Chelsea. Not only did he have the attacking prowess required to succeed at his club, but he also had the maturity, technique, energy, and vision to make him Frank Lampard’s replacement. Van Ginkel even claimed last season when Lampard chose to leave the club that he was ready to replace the Chelsea legend by stating:
But for me it’s an advantage(Lampard leaving), though naturally you never know if they have picked a new player to replace Lampard.
Sadly the young Dutch star wasn’t given a chance to replace the legend himself as Cesc Fabregas was brought into the team while he was shipped out to the San Siro in Italy in order to develop under the tutelage of Filippo Inzaghi.
When he arrived at AC Milan he became a starter almost straight away, but his debut as a starter against Empoli was cut short with an ankle injury that sidelined him until late October. Once he recovered and was fit enough to play his teammate, Sulley Muntari, re-injured him in training and took him out of the team for another month or so.
It wasn’t until he recovered from his second injury that he finally became a regular in the starting XI. Since the Inzaghi S.S. was already sinking there was no downside to starting Van Ginkel, and in the end the u21 Dutch captain helped steer the Rossoneri to a crucial win against Roma that helped guide Milan to a devastating, yet relieving, 10th place finish. By the end of the season Marco managed to make 18 appearances for Silvio Berlusconi’s side with two of those coming off the bench.
However, while Van Ginkel and his Milan side were struggling in Italy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek managed to make a few appearances for Chelsea, with the league won and Mikel and Ramires injured nothing bad could happen if RLC played a few games. Not only did RLC play more towards the end of the season, but he also started to become a fan favourite and his reputation began to grow.
Furthermore, RLC is not MVG’s only threat to accruing a place in the first team. There is also Nathan Ake, Ramires, Jon Obi Mikel, Charlie Colkett, and Nathaniel Chalobah to compete against. With at least five potential squad players to compete against it may not be the best option for Van Ginkel to stay.
Now with Van Ginkel becoming a forgotten man at Stamford Bridge it is time for him to either regain his status and fight for a place in the first team or for him to depart Stamford Bridge and forge his career elsewhere in hope of attaining success as a starter, and hopefully making Chelsea wish they never sold him.
According to IBT, MVG is wanted by Newcastle to help fill the void left by French midfielder Yohan Cabaye, a task that MVG is more than capable of fulfilling, but is it worth it to leave the magnificent city of London and the great training facilities of Cobham in exchange for Newcastle? If he wants assured playing time it is, but if he wants to compete amongst the elite then it isn’t. One thing is for sure though, another season on loan for Van Ginkel just won’t do.
