Football
8y

Danilo Pantic wants Chelsea return after being frozen out at Vitesse

Chelsea youngster Danilo Pantic says he wants to return to Stamford Bridge and suggests his lack of opportunities on loan at Vitesse this season could be down to a distrust of Serbian players at the Dutch club.

Pantic -- one of five Chelsea youngsters on loan at Vitesse this season -- has made just nine substitute appearances in eight months at Gelredome, despite being regarded as one of the most talented prospects to emerge from Serbia when he joined the Blues from Partizan Belgrade last summer.

On his arrival at Vitesse, manager Peter Bosz admitted it would take time for Pantic to regain the fitness required to compete for a starting spot, but the 19-year-old insists there is no reason why he has been overlooked for so long.

"I want to come back to Chelsea, just to train," Pantic told Serbian newspaper Blic.

"Why am I in Vitesse if I am not good enough? I am crazy! I've made no mistakes. If I had a chance and blew it, I would keep quiet.

"Maybe in Vitesse they don't like us Serbs: Nemanja Matic did not get a chance here either and Uros Djurdjevic played 22 matches in a year and a half.

"There are five of us here at Vitesse from Chelsea [Dominic Solanke, Isaiah Brown, Lewis Baker and Nathan are the others] and none of us are playing. That means something is wrong."

Pantic's comments echo those of fellow Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford, who cut short what he described as a "terrible" spell at Crystal Palace in January due to a lack of first-team opportunities.

The 22-year-old joined Norwich City at the end of January but has since made just two substitute appearances at Carrow Road.

In December a report by ESPN FC revealed that 19 of Chelsea's 32 loanees played fewer than half the available minutes at their loan clubs during the first half of the 2015-16 season.

^ Back to Top ^