MARCO VAN GINKEL is being primed for a January loan move by Chelsea.
The Dutch midfielder, 23, was set for a second spell at Eredivisie outfit PSV in the summer but that was called off when he picked up a knee injury.
It required an injection to treat the problem and Van Ginkel has been training with Chelsea Under-23 since his return last month.
He came through 90 minutes with coach Adi Viveash’s youngsters in the EFL Trophy against Oxford on Tuesday.
The Blues won a 34-penalty shoot-out 13-12 to win the tie which had finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.
Van Ginkel will continue to play for the Under-23s until the new year, when he is expected to resurrect his move to PSV.
Viveash said: “Marco had an injection in the knee and trained pre-season with the loan players.
“He has been with us a couple of weeks now.
“His thing is gaining match fitness. He has not had a major injury.
“Obviously for Marco he will be getting ready for January and then I will imagine he will be looking to play senior football as he has done previously.
“I imagine a loan deal is likely for him.
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“I think he would have been out on loan now if he had not had the injection.
“We are just helping build up his fitness levels and getting some match minutes.
“He will benefit from playing in the EFL Trophy game against Oxford and he will be ready come January.”
Van Ginkel was joined on the comeback trail against Oxford by Kurt Zouma, who played his first 90 minutes since suffering a serious cruciate knee injury against Manchester United in February.
But while Zouma is set for an immediate return to the first-team squad, Viveash indicated Van Ginkel is not part of boss Antonio Conte’s plans.
He added: “I don’t think Marco will go with the first-team, he is on a different programme to Kurt.
“Kurt is a major part of the first team.
“Marco has had loans before, he has trained with the first team at certain times before but certainly since he has came back he has been training with us to get the match fitness up before he goes out in January.”
Van Ginkel has only played 11 Premier League minutes for Chelsea, and has already been out of loan three times since moving to Stamford Bridge from Vitesse Arnhem for £8million in July 2013.
He started 16 Serie A matches at AC Milan two seasons ago and eight in the Premier League at Stoke before his season-long loan was cut short on transfer deadline day last February.
That paved the way for a move to PSV where Van Ginkel enjoyed a prolific end to the season as he notched eight times in 13 games.
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