Chelsea handed Thursday deadline for recalling 22-year-old full-back

Transfer News: Chelsea get deadline date for loan recall of Dujon Sterling

According to Nizaar Kinsella, the club correspondent for GOAL, as quoted by Pys (h/t Football.London), Chelsea have received the deadline date for the loan recall of Dujon Sterling from Blackpool as they have taken a stance on the potential signing of a right-wingback. They require additions in that position due to the injury concern to Reece James.

The Blues will take a definitive decision by the beginning of next week on whether a new right-wingback should be signed or not. A left-wingback is the priority at the moment, which is understandable considering the severity of the injury to Ben Chilwell.

Because of this, the West London club had lost out on Kieran Trippier, who joined Newcastle United after leaving Atletico Madrid. Thomas Tuchel’s side are analysing the options that are available in the transfer market for now, but they do have the right to recall Sterling until this Thursday.

Reasonable decision?

With Chilwell on the sidelines for the rest of the season compared to James’ two months, we can understand why the club has decided to prioritise bolstering the left-hand side. At the same time, we could have got Trippier in that spot, which would have been a more than good enough option.

Newcastle got the former Atletico man for a meagre sum of £12million, which would have made for a smart signing had we got him. But we cannot dwell on the past and the missed chances as there are problems to solve inside the club. Tuchel’s team could prematurely cut short the loan for the 22-year-old, but he may still not be ready enough for the top-flight experience.

Since this Sunday is set as the deadline for a signing, it seems that the English club is not sold on the idea of the loanee covering for the absence of the 22-year-old. But we should try to put an end to this by this Thursday since we would not be able to get the Blackpool loanee past that.

If we wait past that period, there is the risk of failure to find a suitable target, meaning we would have lost out on the opportunity to recall the English loanee. As there is not much time left for the deadline day to pass, we could get more updates regarding the subject soon.

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Sterling, however, may well be just a makeshift solution for the time being. We can’t expect him to be an instant starter that replicates James’ attacking and defensive workrate. But then again, it’s not like James is out for that long, and until then, the youngster could make for an able placeholder.