Championship club boss confirms Chelsea are recalling 22-year-old Dutch loanee

Transfer News: Birmingham City manager confirms Chelsea are recalling Juan Castillo from loan

Speaking in an interview, as quoted by BirminghamLive, Chelsea have taken the decision of recalling 22-year-old left-back Juan Castillo from his loan spell at Birmingham City. 

Since joining Birmingham City last summer, Juan Castillo hasn’t received a lot of chances under Lee Bowyer. After managing only nine appearances across all competitions in the first half of the season, it was evident that the 22-year-old is not an excellent fit for the Championship side.

The lack of opportunities may have been why Chelsea have decided to call back their youth star. Or, it could well be due to our injury issues in the full-back positions, with both Reece James and Ben Chilwell suffering from fitness issues. There is yet to be an official announcement regarding the matter from Chelsea, which may give us a clearer picture of the whole situation once it is made. 

Birmingham City head coach Lee Bowyer confirmed that Juan Castillo would soon return to Cobham. 

“Juan has got Covid at the minute, but I believe that is going to happen; Chelsea are recalling him.”

Can Chelsea use Castillo?

With only having Marcos Alonso as the recognized left-back, Tuchel has been pushed to play Saúl Ñíguez, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Malang Sarr in that position recently. Undoubtedly, the Blues are short of options, and without quality reinforcements, the German manager would face further difficulties in the second half of the season. 

Tuchel’s attempt to lure Lucas Digne failed after the French star joined Aston Villa on a permanent deal. Whereas, our board couldn’t find a solution to recall Emerson Palmieri from his loan spell at Lyon. With the transfer window coming to an end in two weeks, our team hasn’t made any signing yet, which could leave the ex-PSG boss with limited options. 

Juan Familia-Castillo is the second wide-man we are recalling this month. 25-year-old Brazilian ace Robert Kenedy has recently been recalled from his loan spell at Flamengo. And with Castillo now set to return to Cobham, it remains to be seen what plan Tuchel has for the two of them.

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With a lack of top-flight experience, the Dutch ace might not be of huge help, but his availability could undoubtedly make a difference in the team. But it would be especially harsh on the two of them if we are the ones who have terminated their temporary spells, and end up not handing them game time here.

At the start of the season, Castillo and Kenedy were two names the fans wouldn’t have dreamt of seeing down the left flank for us in the second half of this season. But such is football!