Now World ViewChelsea ace dealt major injury blow as transfer plans ruined and £15m summer twist explained
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After a promising start to life on loan, Alfie Gilchrist has seen his season come to a crashing halt. Nearly 12 months on from scoring his first goal for Chelsea, things are quite different now.
Gilchrist has gone from Mauricio Pochettino to Chris Wilder. Sent away to cut his teeth at Sheffield United in the Championship, he has made great strides in the senior game.
Following on from making a breakthrough at Chelsea into the first-team picture – Gilchrist was used as a late 'enforcer' to close out matches late on – he is established as a solid EFL option. However, progress has come to a standstill.
Gilchrist has not played for almost six weeks, when he was taken off after an hour during a 3-0 defeat to Hull City away from home. That was the last time he was seen on the pitch and abruptly ended a run of 12 starts in a row. The Blades won seven of those, drawing another two, and kept five clean sheets during that time.
They are well in the mix for an immediate return to the top flight and currently sit second. Leeds United are ahead with Burnley two points behind and outside the automatic promotion places. A top-three finish looks extremely likely.
Gilchrist has played a big part in the run to this stage but has increased competition for his place after Wilder added Rob Holding to his ranks at the end of the January transfer window, meaning United had six loan players in the team. Only five are permitted to feature in a matchday squad.
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The return of Femi Seriki and Jamie Shackleton have added reinforcement at the back and it has left Gilchrist on the sidelines. He is not being selected due to the EFL loan rules and also a recent injury.
Last month Wilder confirmed that he had been back at Chelsea to recover from an ankle knock. "So he's maybe a couple of weeks away from joining back in and being available," the manager said. "He innocuously turned his ankle in training, and they're the injuries you can't avoid because you want to train with intensity and tempo to set yourselves up for the weekend.
"As everyone knows, Alfie doesn't hold back, but he'll be okay. It'll be a couple of weeks, he'll be touch and go for the Sheffield Wednesday game and there's a break after that, so he'll be back for Coventry the week after."
United play their fierce local rivals on Saturday. Gilchrist will be aiming to get himself in the mix for that game. Harry Clarke's own injury has opened up a space again for Gilchrist as he tries to finish the season strongly.
Chelsea know that if he does then the chances of cashing in for a decent fee certainly rise. They have already seen with Burnley's Bashir Humphreys – who will move permanently in the summer due to an obligation-to-buy clause in his contract – that impressive EFL displays can help in this regard.
Humphreys will draw in almost £15million later this year despite having only played two senior games for Chelsea. He had been one of the top-rated young defenders at the club as he progressed through the youth system. Humphreys, nominally a centre-back, has been a major part of Scott Parker’s record-smashing defensive unit at Burnley, playing at left-back.
He spent time at Swansea City two years ago before heading to Paderborn in the German second division for more opportunities. He has settled at Burnley and could be one of three former Chelsea academy players returning to the Premier League.
Gilchrist is fighting for promotion, as is Ethan Ampadu with Leeds. He is captain at Elland Road and has forged a pathway himself since leaving in 2023.
Now the focus is on Gilchrist. He has largely been used at right-back by Wilder despite coming through the Chelsea academy as a centre-half. Pochettino mainly turned to him at full-back as well with it being more protected. Gilchrist isn't the tallest of defenders around either and still has pace in his 21-year-old legs to lock down the wide spaces.
The Cobham graduate is experiencing his first taste of regular men's football, a valuable learning curve for an academy captain and someone who Chelsea have had high hopes for. The club offered him a new contract in April, tying him down until 2026 and keeping all options open ahead of this summer.
There is a further one-year option which keeps Chelsea in control of his future. The next steps tend to be yet another loan, ideally in the Premier League, or an early sale.
Gilchrist's chances of making it at Stamford Bridge have meanwhile grown faint. Josh Acheampong is among the best young defensive talents in Europe and is now ahead of Gilchrist in the pecking order at SW6. Trevoh Chalobah's return and the plans to invest over the summer also pose a challenge.
The first task for Gilchrist is now to get back to full fitness and then to win his place in the side. After that, Chelsea will be keen to see him play a big part in a good season for United as they seek to boost their financial situation with the sale of another academy talent.
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