Charlie Musonda Jr. is struggling with his impending departure from Chelsea. After ten years, the injury-plagued attacker will have to leave next summer the Blues. Musonda, who came out on a rental basis for Vitesse between 2018 and 2020, even offered trainer Thomas Tuchel to continue playing for the Londoners for free.
Chelsea took over Musonda from Anderlecht in 2012 for an amount of 2.5 million euros. At the time, the Belgian was regarded as an absolute top talent. Musonda worked his way through the Under-21 and a Real Betis loan spell to the first team, where he made his debut in August 2017. The talent was not yet considered ripe for a base place and was therefore sent to Celtic and Vitesse on a rental basis. Musonda tore his cruciate ligament with the Arnhem team, however. His second season in the Netherlands was also marked by injuries, which resulted in only four games in total.
Back in London, Musonda played two more games with the Under 23 of Chelsea, in the autumn of 2020. After that, the dribbler was injured again. Talks with Tuchel and technical director Petr Cech about his contract expiring this summer did not work, Musonda says in The Beautiful Game Podcast. “After those conversations I knew: okay, I have to leave soon, there is nothing I can do. I was literally crying the next day.”
Musonda offered to play for the club free of charge. “I spoke to the manager and said that I wanted to play for Chelsea for free, that the contract was not a problem. And if I did it right, we could talk about a possible extension. It wasn’t about the money for me, it was about whether I was good enough for Chelsea or not.” Musonda is currently training with the club’s Under 23. Tuchel has not included him in his squads for the Premier League and the Champions League. Musonda has played seven matches in Chelsea’s first since his arrival from Anderlecht.
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