Chelsea chief defends club's loan policy after farming out 33 players

Michael Emenalo defends Chelsea's loan policy

CHELSEA technical director Michael Emenalo has defended the club's loan policy.

The Premier League champions saw 33 players depart Stamford Bridge on a temporary basis in the summer, a figure over double the next highest total in the top flight.
The Blues have allowed the likes of Juan Cuadrado and Mohamed Salah to move to Juventus and Roma respectively, while Victor Moses joined West Ham shortly after extending his contract.

Nathaniel Chalobah and Marco van Ginkel are among the other senior players now plying their trade elsewhere, while the remaining loanees are mostly members of the youth academy and Under-21 ranks.
Chelsea have been accused of unfairly stockpiling players, but Emenalo insists the loan system has been put in place precisely to promote the development of talent.

He said: "We have the difficult job - one we happily accept because we are a big club - of trying to balance being successful with making sure we have the right players at the right time.
"Sometimes there are players whose development is not finished, just like Victor (Moses), who maybe needs to play more football to get to the level we think he can get to, because he is very, very talented."