Why Chelsea have decided against another loan for struggling Brazilian striker | OneFootball

Simon Johnson’s piece for the Athletic about Dario Essugo’s injury is pretty bleak.

The Portugal youth international picked up a thigh injury on international duty, and it’s a bad one. He’s going to need surgery, and this report has him out for 12 weeks – a very solid chunk of the season.

Washington back to Chelsea – with no plans to move on

Squeezed in at the bottom of the report is other squad news, this time about young Brazilian striker Deivid Washington. Perhaps the least successful of all the South American imports we’ve made under the new ownership, the young striker has struggled to find a place or a pathway, and has just been recalled from a flop of a loan at Santos in his native Brazil.

“Meanwhile, Deivid Washington has returned to Chelsea from his loan spell at Brazilian club Santos, where he scored one goal in 17 appearances,” Johnson wrote.

“Washington is preparing to feature for Brazil at the under-20 World Cup, which commences next month. Even though several transfer windows remain open, including those in Turkey and Greece, Chelsea are not currently planning to loan Washington out elsewhere this month.”

Chelsea’s pin their hopes on World Cup for struggling striker

It seems strange to have him on the books at Chelsea but not playing. He’s had enough Development Squad games, and needs senior football.

It seems that the focus is all on the Under-20 World Cup. The idea seems to be that he can shine there and open up a few windows for himself in terms of future moves. It could prove difficult to find a deal to loan him to (say) a Greek club if they know that within a month he will be going to play for Brazil for a month or so.

Hopefully by the end of October he’s impressed and can find a decent move in January.