How should Chelsea handle Deivid Washington situation?

But we have been here before. Chelsea's co-owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital were eager to sign Endrick from the same team not so long ago, only to watch the then-unproven starlet choose Real Madrid.

Whether it has always been a set plan of Boehly and Clearlake, or whether they just became further motivated to make a statement in the Brazilian market, the focus on that particularly country has remained and is yet to prove worthwhile.

The assumption is that, if Boehly and Clearlake had their way, a wide array of talent would be spending a minimum of a season at Strasbourg - also owned by BlueCo - to help boost the French club and act as a platform to gain the necessary experience to potentially represent Chelsea in the future.

However, FIFA's loan rules dictate that only seven players can temporary move to foreign clubs at one time, presenting an obvious challenge to Chelsea.

Young Brazilian pair Angelo Gabriel and Andrey Santos can claim that time in France has been worthwhile. Nineteen-year-old winger Angelo accumulated 11 starts and 10 substitute outings before his season was halted through injury, while Santos has been a mainstay of the team since the middle of March.

Where they go next remains unclear and may present issues for Chelsea unless domestic loans become their preference. Nevertheless, Chelsea's biggest problem comes from having to decide what to do with Deivid Washington.

Money not well spent?

Despite Washington accumulating just 866 minutes of senior football with Santos, scoring just the two goals, Chelsea committed to paying £17.1m for the 18-year-old.

This is also a player who has not represented Brazil at any international level, and the end result of Washington spending the season in England, rather than a loan elsewhere, has been 25 minutes of senior football.

Washington's appearances have been a nine-minute outing when Chelsea were chasing the game against Brentford in October, a 14-minute runout when the Blues were thrashing Preston North End in the FA Cup, and a brief cameo when Chelsea were five goals to the good against Everton last month.

There have been countless occasions when Washington could have been handed minutes by Mauricio Pochettino. In Premier League and FA Cup fixtures alone, there have been 20 occasions when he has remained an unused substitute.

Of course, some situations have arisen when it made little sense to introduce Washington, yet even with Armando Broja out on loan and Christopher Nkunku spending much of his time out injured, Pochettino has barely used him.

Encouraging Premier League 2 performances

On a positive note, Washington has at least been used on nine occasions in Premier League 2, those outings spread across the campaign courtesy of his first-team responsibilities.

In his last five appearances, four goals have been scored, and in different games, too. Washington has also been used as a number 10, left winger and centre-forward, netting from all three positions and not completing the 90 minutes in any of the aforementioned fixtures.

The question now is how does he get opportunities to showcase his talent in a senior capacity? With Nkunku having returned to the squad last week, there is every chance that Washington will be nowhere to be seen when Pochettino names his squad for the game with Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening.

Washington is on a contract until 2030 so there is plenty of time for the investment to prove worthwhile, but there is realistically no prospect of the South American starlet becoming a regular part of Pochettino's squad when everyone is fit.

Chelsea have decisions to make over how to manoeuvre their loans for 2024-25, and it is not a simple process. Generating substantial loan fees through parting ways with some of their unwanted big-earners may have to take priority if they cannot attract the desired transfer fees.

With passing the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability regulations the most important factor of all right now, that has the potential to leave Washington further in limbo, unless Chelsea can recoup a couple of million pounds through a loan exit.

A switch to the Championship may be viewed as a risk. Mason Burstow has spent the season at Sunderland and his lack of physicality has led to his stock dropping. The same could happen with Washington.

However, for the reasons already mentioned, it may have to be a risk that Chelsea take. Washington has shown enough potential at Premier League 2 level that he could plausibly be a success in English football, providing that he can be guaranteed minutes.