Over the years, plenty of young players have joined Chelsea. The hype is big, the potential is enormous, but some simply fall by the wayside and struggle to get going.
Kevin De Bruyne and Mo Salah are arguably the biggest examples that needed to leave Chelsea after joining the London club young, before finally realising their potential and then returning to England.
Joining Chelsea is not the end goal; the hard work starts when a player arrives at Stamford Bridge and finds two or three players ahead of him in the pecking order. For some, it is too difficult, or are unlucky.
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Liam Rosenior at Fulham v Chelsea.
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Another example of a player joining young with big potential, but failing to make the grade at Chelsea is midfielder Marco van Ginkel. He starred as a teenager at Vitesse Arnhem, catching Chelsea’s eye.
Marco van Ginkel confirms retirement at just 33 in emotional post
Chelsea paid £8m to sign van Ginkel, after clocking up 23 goals in 111 games from midfield before he was even 21. He would go on to spend the next eight years on Chelsea’s books, but he’d only play four times.
Huge promise, massive resale value. But a few months into his Chelsea stint, van Ginkel would suffer an ACL injury, and it proved to be the downfall of his career. More knee and ankle injuries followed.
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He would go on loan for five of the eight years he was at Chelsea and would have gone on loan more, had it not been for injuries. Milan, Stoke City, two years at PSV followed by another year during 2020-21.
Van Ginkel joined PSV permanently in 2021 but again, injury plagued him. A return to Vitesse came in 2023-24, before his last spell came with Boavista in Portugal. Now, van Ginkel has announced he’s retiring.
In a post on Instagram, he said: “After 16 years, I’m saying goodbye to professional football. A journey filled with highs and lows, lessons learned and memories I’ll cherish forever. Thanks to everyone who stood by me along the way. Proud of the past. Ready for the next chapter.”
Reece James and Thibaut Courtois react to van Ginkel’s post
Despite his lack of game time at Chelsea and, indeed, failing to prove why Chelsea had paid £8m to sign him as a young midfielder, van Ginkel has always earned a soft spot among Chelsea supporters.
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Many have felt sympathy for the midfielder and his injury woes, and understandably so. There is also a feeling that had he remained injury-free, van Ginkel could have become a potential Chelsea star.
But instead, he’s been forced to retire at just 33, and both Reece James and Thibaut Courtois are among those to respond to his Instagram post. James said: “Good luck in the next chapter my friend.”
Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s Courtois, who also suffered an ACL injury in 2023, posted: “Congratulations on your career amigo”. He might not have made it at Chelsea, but he certainly sparkled in the Netherlands.
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