Place your minds back to August of 2012, Chelsea signed a young and talented Victor Moses from Wigan. After a lengthy pursuit of the winger, Chelsea agreed to pay the asking price, to land Moses from Wigan Athletic.
Then seen as a player that could potentially be a star of his future looking to develop his game at Stamford Bridge, Moses’ development has not quite reached where he expected it to be. Upon his arrival at the club, the winger settled in fairly well. Featuring heavily in the European games, Moses scored in the Champions League and the Europa League which Chelsea went on to lift.
A year under the management of Rafa Benitez had seemingly gone reasonably well for Moses, but the arrival of Jose Mourinho, Kevin De Bruyne and Andre Schurrle saw the Nigerian international fall down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge. Moses would later be shipped out to Liverpool on loan. Initially, the move looked destined to be a good move for Victor. He was being presented with the opportunity to play at a high level at a big Premier League club, whilst hopefully continuing his development.
However things did not quite turn out the way either party had imagined. Liverpool ended up having a fantastic season, narrowly missing out on the Premier League title. Much of Liverpool’s success was down to the young Raheem Sterling, the emergence of Sterling halted Moses’ development at Anfield, leaving game time limited. Moses only featured 19 times for Liverpool, resulting in what can only be described as an unsuccessful loan.
Moses spent last season on loan at Stoke and his performances didn’t go unnoticed. Chelsea even tried to recall Moses from Stoke in January following the departure of Mohamed Salah and Andre Schurrle.
The winger saw his season cut short through a nasty hamstring injury, meaning he also only featured 19 times for Stoke. Speculation soon surrounded his future at the club, linking local rivals Spurs with a bid for the player. As well as the possibility that the player could be included in a deal with Everton to bring John Stones to Chelsea.
During the early stages of Chelsea’s pre-season tour, Mourinho had spoken positively about the possibility of Moses staying at the club. Last night in Chelsea’s opening pre-season defeat to New York Red Bulls, Mourinho started both Bertrand Traore and Victor Moses, who both have their individual points to prove.
Moses was a shining light in what was a typically poor pre-season performance, which raises questions about how he could feature in the squad this season? Should Moses stay, it looks likely to be on as a squad player, the type of player that can come off the bench and give us energy and a fresh impetus in a game.
Fans reacted positively to Moses’ performance against Red Bulls on social media and were very much hoping to see the winger remain at the club. Now, we must obviously reserve our judgement until we have seen a little more from Moses, also against stronger opposition ( I know, we lost to them).
If there could be a perfect time for Moses to pitch a claim to make his way into our squad, it would be now. Juan Cuadrado’s future is changing every day and Mohamed Salah looks closer than ever to an exit. An impressive pre-season for Moses could be the deciding factor in who stays and who goes.
Unlike Cuadrado, Moses offers a physical presence out wide. His pace and power combined with his directness left Red Bulls struggling to mark the Nigerian, drawing fouls with ease. His first thought is to beat his man, which paired with his willingness and work rate, could make him a very exciting player under Mourinho.
Mourinho was quoted on the club’s official website saying: ‘He’s fast and aggressive. Okay, he has to learn how to play with us but I’m happy with his week and his 45 minutes. Let’s see what happens but Victor had an evolution in the last couple of years.’
Interestingly, Jose used the word ‘evolution’ the same word that he used to describe the recent form of Eden Hazard and his hopes for Oscar this season. Mourinho may just see this as an opportunity to mould Victor Moses into his desired winger. With Moses having years of Premier League experience under his belt, Moses would be a great option that can simply slot into the squad.
Do you want to see Victor Moses stay with Chelsea next season? Let us know your opinion!
