Chelsea angry at Rodgers’ treatment of Musonda
Third loan deal going wrong under manager Midfielder could cut short stay with Celtic
Chelsea are growing angry with Brendan Rodgers over a third loan that is turning sour under the club’s former reserve team manager and has put a black mark against any faint hopes he may harbour of succeeding Antonio Conte.
Rodgers won his second Scottish Premiership title with Celtic at the weekend but his handling of Charly Musonda, who was not even in the match-day squad for the 5-0 thrashing of Rangers, has not gone down well at Stamford Bridge.
Musonda was sent to Celtic on an 18-month loan until the end of next season but could well cut short his stay in Scotland after starting just two league games. The 21-year-old has not started a game since Feb 18.
Rodgers had assured Chelsea and Musonda that the talented Belgian would get plenty of chances to gain first-team experience at Celtic. He made similar promises over Josh Mceachran, when he was Swansea City manager, and Victor Moses, when in charge of Liverpool.
Mceachran started only one Premier League game under Rodgers for Swansea and, asked what he learnt in Wales, the midfielder said: “Nothing.” Questioned on his opinion of Rodgers, he added: “I’ll pass on that.”
Moses started only six Premier League games during his season at Liverpool despite Rodgers convincing the then winger that he could make a similar impact on his career as he made with Daniel Sturridge.
While Mceachran never fully recovered from his spell at Swansea, Moses has since proved his talent by becoming Chelsea’s first-choice right wing-back under Conte.
Their experiences over Mceachran and Moses meant that Chelsea decided against sending other players to play on loan under Rodgers but that stance softened in January when Musonda expressed an interest in joining Celtic.
So far, however, Chelsea’s worst fears have been realised again and Musonda’s inactivity is making it even more unlikely that Rodgers will be seriously discussed as a candidate to replace Conte.
Rodgers, who has been linked with Arsenal, has admitted that he hopes to work in England’s Premier League again, but he has shot himself in the foot over a potential return to Chelsea. Asked about his future, following Celtic’s latest title success, Rodgers said: “I would love to work in the Premier League again one day, but I’m hopefully going to be coaching for another 20odd years. So it’s no time soon.”