Ok, help me out here because I don’t really understand Chelsea’s stance when it comes to Michael Mancienne.

There’s been a bit of ummm-ing and ahhh-ing about him for a while really – would he break into the first team? Would he go back out on loan? Would we sell him? I was definitely a member of the ‘Mancienne to follow Terry’ camp. Here was a young, English player, plenty of potential and more than capable of playing in the Premier League, why on earth wouldn’t we bring him through? We keep going on about doing that with our younger players, right? Except it’s bloody hard to bring players through when you don’t keep them at the club!

After spending all his time out on loan since he signed a new contract, guess what? It looks like he’ll be doing exactly the same again this season. And whilst I appreciate that with John Terry, Alex, and even Ivanovic ahead of him in the pecking order, it’s better for him to be out on loan than sat on a bench, it’s the rumours that given the right price we’d be prepared to sell him that really bother me.

As far as the loan goes, Mancienne is going back to Wolves for the season. He’s been there a couple of times already, spending the whole of last season there, and it goes without saying they’d be more than happy to have him back. Newcastle are interested in him as well apparently and what we’ve heard is that although we’ve been offered £3m for him, Chelsea want between £5 million and £6 million before we’re prepared to sell.

So, does that mean the club are actually prepared to sell him or that realistically they know they won’t get that price for him and they’re just hedging their bets to keep him? Let’s not forget it wasn’t that long ago we were told he’d put in a transfer request because he didn’t think he was really in Chelsea’s plans and to be fair to the lad, he’s barely played any part for us.

For Wolves though, it’s a different matter. He played in the majority of Wolves Premier League games for them last season and Mick McCarthy was more than happy with his performances, stating “He’s a good guy and a good defender. I was thrilled to get him and I’ve been thrilled with his performances.” Mind you, whilst he’d happily have him back this season, the Wolves boss isn’t considering buying him, insisting “We won’t be buying him. If they were loaning him out again then that’s a different matter altogether. From my understanding, he’s asked for a transfer, but they want to sell him rather than loan him. Of course I’d be interested if they want to loan him out, but that’s up to them.”

So, that brings me back to the bit that confuses me. I mean, if you look at the 25-man rule, it’s meant to be about giving English players a chance to get first team experience – wasn’t that the general idea? Eight of those 25 have to be ‘home-grown’ after all, and Michael Mancienne is certainly that. He’s from Isleworth (a place close to my own heart as a child) and he’s been at Chelsea since he was 9, when he joined the academy.

Mancienne debuted for our reserves when he was still at school, our youngest reserves regular in the 2003/04 season and was rewarded with a professional contract in 2006. That same year saw the start of his loan spells, with him going to QPR. He got a couple of reserve games for us in the 2008/09 season before going to Wolves til January and on his return, Hiddink gave him a chance in the FA Cup, Champions League and league, seeing him named our Young Player of the Year that season before spending the entire 2009/10 campaign back on loan at Wolves.

Internationally as well, Mancienne has captained the Under-18s, played for the Under-21s and was even called up by Capello for a friendly against Germany, and whilst he might only have made the bench, the call-up itself suggests I’m not alone in thinking he’s definitely an England first team regular in the making.

So there we have it, at 22 Michael Mancienne has age on his side, he’s home grown so he fits in with 25-man rule nicely without costing us an arm and a leg, he’s pacy, he’s developed his strength at Wolves, he seems to have a sensible head on his shoulders on and off the pitch and he’s even caught the England manager’s eye – ideal player to have in the squad really.

Chelsea wouldn’t really consider selling him now would they?

Filed under: Current Players, Rants, Rumours, Transfers