Gabriel Slonina set to leave Chelsea on loan spell to Belgian league
Chelsea goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina is apparently set to leave Stamford Bridge and complete a loan move to Belgian side KAS Eupen later today (8 August).
The news has been confirmed as an exclusive by trusted journalist Fabrizio Romano. He says that the teenager is open to moving to the Belgian club and the final details are now being sorted.
Slonina moved to Chelsea from Chicago Fire in August 2022 and was loaned back to the MLS team until the end of the year. He has been with the Blues since the start of 2023.
But he hasn’t been able to get any sort of meaningful playing time here due to Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy’s presence. Not to mention, the USMNT goalie is also pretty young and inexperienced too.
Good move for Slonina
He may have had 43 senior appearances with Chicago Fire but he hasn’t had a single minute with the senior team here. Slonina’s eight appearances in competitive games came with the U21 outfit.
Mendy’s exit doesn’t mean he will get any playing time here right now. Robert Sanchez, 25, has been signed from Brighton & Hove Albion either as a backup to Kepa or as our new No. 1
It’s good that Slonina is moving on loan elsewhere. He can get respectable playing time in the Belgian first division and come back here with minutes under the belt. We are in no danger of losing him permanently at all, considering he has a long, long contract here that expires only in June 2028 (Transfermarkt).
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Luckily for him, Chelsea have owners and a manager fully committed to the youth project in SW6. Few years down the line, he could be our no. 1. But until then, he will have to earn his stripes, be it elsewhere.