5 players looking to rejuvenate their careers in 2018/19

#5 Lewis Baker

Lewis Baker will look to rebound from his disappointing spell at Middlesbrough with his move to Leeds

While Chelsea’s much talked about loan system has worked brilliantly for some players – Thibaut Courtois, Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, for instance, have all benefited from seasons away from Stamford Bridge – England youngster Lewis Baker represents what can go wrong perhaps better than anyone else. An outstanding member of England’s youth sides, Baker won the Golden Boot as the U21 side won 2016’s Toulon Tournament, and he performed well in last summer’s U21 European Championship too.

After two seasons on loan at Vitesse Arnhem – where he hit fantastic form and proved his worth as a possible future star – 2017/18 was supposed to be the season where Baker really kicked on and proved that he could make it at Chelsea. He moved on loan to Middlesbrough for the season but somehow fell out of favour with both Garry Monk and then Tony Pulis, despite showing flashes of his massive potential on the odd occasion that he did appear.

In the end, Baker only made 12 appearances in the Championship, many as a substitute. The move simply didn’t work and essentially was a year of his career wasted. At 23 years old he’s probably further from Chelsea’s first-team squad than ever before. But the talent – he’s two-footed, can play practically anywhere in midfield, has an eye for a pass and is a dead-ball expert – is clearly there.

That’s why 2018/19 is so important to him. He’s taken another Championship loan move, but this time he’s at Leeds United, under legendary Argentine boss Marcelo Bielsa – the man who helped to develop players like Gabriel Batistuta and who was once labelled the world’s greatest coach by Pep Guardiola. If Baker can find his feet under Bielsa then the sky is the limit, and he could yet make his mark at Chelsea – and possibly with England, too.