Chelsea have faced their fare share of criticism in recent years for their practices in the transfer windows.
Whether it's shelling out billions of pounds over the course of a few years or selling off their prized academy assets, there has been a huge focus on the transfer department since Roman Abramovich sold the club in 2022.
However, few decisions the club have made in that time have been as controversial as what has happened to Trevoh Chalobah over the last year. The defender was cast out from the first-team, forming part of a 'bomb squad' as the club made it clear he had no future at Stamford Bridge.
However, with no clubs coming in to sign the defender on a permanent deal, he eventually left on a year-long loan deal to join Crystal Palace. Once established at Selhurst Park, the 25-year-old started to impress - even chipping in with a goal against Palace's rivals Brighton in a 3-1 win.
However, injuries in the Chelsea defence meant the Blues took the drastic action of ending the loan move prematurely, with Chalobah heading back to Stamford Bridge despite being deemed not part of the plans just six months before.
It was an embarrassing climb down for the club, but to Chalobah's credit he does not seem to have let the uncertainty affect his confidence or performances. The centre-back has started 10 of the 16 Premier League games he has been available for back in west London, playing the full 90 minutes in seven of their last eight league fixtures.
And his form since arriving back at Chelsea has not gone unnoticed. Former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has elected to hand Chalobah his first ever call up to the senior England squad for their June fixtures against Andorra and Senegal.
While there have been issues elsewhere which may have helped him, such as former teammate Marc Guehi suffering an eye injury during Palace's FA Cup final win against Manchester City, Tuchel admitted that Chalobah's consistency and quality over the last four months have deserved recognition.
"We have some injuries in the central defender position," Tuchel said. "Trevoh has stepped up massively since he came back to Chelsea. Since last camp – even before – he was already on our radar but since last camp, in the last months, he had a major contribution in the run of Chelsea.
"They’re still fighting for Champions League and he was one of their most consistent and best defenders so we think he deserves the call up and maybe get his first cap."
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