Why Chelsea would be better off selling forgotten man van Ginkel

According to a report by The Sun, Chelsea’s forgotten man Marko van Ginkel has revealed how he became depressed after his injury scare.

The Chelsea midfielder recently came out admitting that he had feared his career was over after undergoing three operations on his knee in a span of six days, back in 2018.

Van Ginkel, who joined Chelsea from Dutch side Vitesse for a sum of £8million back in 2013 has so far made just 4 appearances for the Blues.

However, the Dutchman is now back at Stamford Bridge, following loan spells at AC Milan, Stoke City, and PSV Eindhoven. He last played a match in May 2018, captaining PSV Eindhoven to their second league title in 3 years.

This was soon followed by surgery in the summer to rebuild his knee ligament, which had been troubling him since the 2013-14 season when he first ruptured his cruciate ligament.

Since then, he has not featured in a single game as a series of complications following the surgery delayed his return to the game. Van Ginkel spent 18 long months on the fringes but is now once again back in training with the Chelsea first-team, having returned to action in November.     

However, his contract at Stamford Bridge is set to expire in the summer and it remains to be seen if Chelsea under new manager Frank Lampard are willing to hold on to his services any longer.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have suffered a minor blip in form after some impressive displays early in the season. Lampard, who relied on his crop of homegrown talents this season, had seen his side perform well above the standards, managing a top-four spot.

Despite losing four of their last five league outings, Chelsea have managed to cling on to fourth place purely due to their impressive displays at the beginning of the season.

They now have 29 points and are 6 short of defending champions Manchester City, who are in third place. Apart from their last few games, Chelsea have looked a comfortable lot, playing the ball with confidence in the middle of the pitch.

And Lampard owes it all to his midfield, which includes the likes of Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and academy player Mason Mount.

These four have been in top form for the Blues, with Lampard offering them the freedom to play their natural game. This has seen them score 10 goals altogether of a total of 31 league goals scored by Chelsea this season.   

The four have also contributed to the side by sharing 5 assists between them so far. Lampard seems to have been so impressed by their performance that other midfielders such as Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have seen their game time increasingly limited at Stamford Bridge.

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To this big list of six midfielders comes Van Ginkel, who himself has been sitting out for more than a year. With as many as nine different injuries troubling him since his move to Chelsea back in 2013, it does not look like the wisest of choices if Chelsea still wish to hold on to him.

Verdict

Lampard already has a squad filled with midfield talents and letting van Ginkel stay would only be surplus to Chelsea’s requirements. Moreover, the midfielder has been out of action for long and his injuries in the past could have taken a toll on his game.

Hence, offloading Van Ginkel would be the best option for Chelsea at the moment.