Chelsea’s Ghanian defender Baba Rahman was spotted training last week after a lengthy injury-off and is now said to be pushing for a return to the first team.
The left back fell out of favour with boss Jose Mourinho and was loaned to Schalke 04 in Germany. However, his stint was cut short by an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January.
He played just 15 games after arriving at Stamford Bridge from Augsburg before he was shipped back to Germany where he appeared 13 times for the Ruhr based side.
Sources say that Antonio Conte has been impressed by Rahman’s qualities and could bring him back to the first team set-up.
Conte failed to sign another left-back over the summer and Rahman could now provide competition for Marcos Alonso.
Conte kept chasing Alex Sandro of Juventus throughout the summer as they looked for cover and depth in the wing-back roles. They, however, failed to draft in any like-for-like replacement for Alonso even though they managed to get Davide Zappacosta who is a right sided wing-back.
Now the Blues have a more attack-minded option in Rahman hungry for action.
Conte is tipped to register £14million buy Rahman for the Champions League, according to ghanasoccernet.com.
That would complete a big change in circumstances for the speedy flank man who was linked with a move away from Chelsea even after the English deadline.
Galatasaray, of Turkey, were interested in taking one of Rahman or Kennedy on loan but they have missed out on getting either one of them and it appears they will stay put at Stamford Bridge atleast until January as they try and impress Conte to extend their stay.
The defender was initially not on the list of registered Chelsea players for the Premier League season, with reports suggesting that he was close to a loan-move outside of England.
However, a last-minute move to Las Palmas by striker Loic Remy has necessitated the draft of Rahman into the club’s list of players for the league season.
The Ghana defender will now most likely serve as a deputy to first-choice wing-back Marcos Alonso.
The Football Fanbase View:
With Chelsea competing in four competitions, the availability of this player will certainly be viewed as a plus. He is known for his attacking abilities and is an excellent crosser of the ball. His defensive abilities were questioned but in Chelsea’s current system, he has more cover behind him and therefore might settle easily under Antonio Conte.
