Chelsea have announced that midfielder Marco van Ginkel has signed a new one-year contract at the club. The Dutch International’s contract expired this summer, but the 27-year-old accepted a new deal which will see him into his eighth season contracted with the club.
Despite this, he has still only played two Premier League games for the Blues, with most of his time spent out on loan or on the injury list.
Marco van Ginkel Signs New One-Year Contract at Chelsea
Injuries and Loans
After signing from Vitesse in 2013, he played four games for the club in all competitions. Then, he got hit with his first injury, which halted his progression. This cruciate injury kept him out for seven months.
After recovering from injury he was sent out on his first loan spell at AC Milan. In his time at the Italian club, he played 17 Serie A games, scoring one goal.
The following season he was loaned out once again. This time he went to Stoke City in a swap deal with Asmir Begovic, who moved to the London club for £8 million. He played 17 Premier League games for the club, but Stoke cancelled the loan in February and van Ginkel returned to Chelsea.
He wasn’t back at his Chelsea for too long however, joining PSV on loan for the rest of that season. His eight goals helped the club to the Dutch league title, pipping Ajax on the final day. This form also got him into the Dutch International squad.
The following season he was sent back out on loan to PSV, where he impressed again. This time he scored 14 goals in 28 league games as the club won the league for the second season running.
In July 2018 he underwent an operation to reconstruct his ACL and was given a timeframe of eight months recovery. However he has not made a playing return yet.
Where Does He Fit?
This contract extension may come as a shock to some people. The question now is where does he fit into the Chelsea team if he doesn’t go back out on loan. It almost certainly won’t be as a first team player, and he’ll fall even further down the pecking order when Hakim Ziyech joins the club.
Also with rumours that Frank Lampard wants to add Kai Havertz to the squad, he might fall even further down the food chain at Chelsea, meaning another loan move away looks highly likely.
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