With Nathaniel Chalobah, Chelsea did all the hard work – then they undid it | Simon Burnton


Chelsea spotted the midfielder 12 years ago and nurtured his talents before replacing him with Tiemoué Bakayoko, a player eight times more expensive

At about 8pm last Thursday, Nathaniel Chalobah, then still of Chelsea, posted on Instagram a picture of the former Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace defender Fitz Hall. The subject of several weeks of transfer rumour linking him with Swansea, Southampton and Watford, perhaps this, finally, was a clue to Chalobah’s next move. Either that, or he just likes Fitz Hall. No words accompanied the picture, though for some reason there were three alarm clocks superimposed upon it.

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