Charly Musonda arrived with quite the reputation when he signed on loan for Celtic under Brendan Rodgers, yet bar a glorious assist for Callum McGregor’s winning goal against Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League knockout stages, it’s fair to say the reality of the signing didn’t live up to the hype, as he made only three starts and had his loan deal terminated six months into an 18-month deal.
Now according to Goal, Musonda is being linked with an incredible move to Italy to join up with Jose Mourinho at Roma.
Musonda as well as being loaned to Celtic also spent time farmed out to Real Betis and Vitesse Arnhem before his contract was ended at Chelsea. And it was in a friendly against Antwerp for the Dutch side where a posterior cruciate ligament injury saw doctors advise the player, he had perhaps only a 20% chance of returning to the game.
“It’s been four years since I played back-to-back professional games, three years since I last played for my club, two of those last four years, I’ve been injured with the post cruciate ligament of my knee. Nothing but heartbreak and heartache.”
“Doctors told me going through surgery after being out for so long would be the end, an impossible mountain to climb, were the exact words. This is my story and how I keep training and staying ready, despite the odds, one day I’ll be back.”
For Musonda there was a clear disappointment when Chelsea chose to terminate his contract, despite against all the odds getting himself back to fitness and having played for a year at Under 23 level for the London club –
“It definitely wasn’t my decision [to leave at the end of the season]. My ambition was always to play for Chelsea and I always said I was either going to leave because I wasn’t good enough or if I was told I have to go.
“Obviously having been out for the last two or three years it was a bit difficult with my injury. I did everything I could, I worked as hard as I could to just be fit, to be able to be a part of the first team in pre-season, which was something I did and I was very happy about it.
“I was very optimistic that I was going to be able to train with the first team and be back in the team and then build up my fitness. I spoke with Petr Cech and he basically explained to me that the contract, it is what it is. There’s one year left and the club won’t let you go on loan if you don’t sign an extension.
“My initial talk was simply saying, ‘listen, I appreciate the contract, I see where the club is coming from, my initial thinking would be to stay here and be with the team.’ I don’t really care as long as I can show what I can do here, because I came to Chelsea to try and play here.
“I spoke to the manager and said I would play here for free. It’s not the question of the contract, so I was disappointed I didn’t play against Weymouth. [I explained] I will literally play for free this year and if I’m doing well then next year we can talk about [an extension]. It’s not about the money, it’s either I’m good enough to play for Chelsea or I’m not good enough to play for Chelsea.”
Chelsea, it appears were not willing to risk a further contract for Musonda, however, it would show an incredible turnaround in his fortunes if Musonda was to find himself signing on at Roma against all odds.
It may not have worked out for him at Celtic, but there was a time Charly Musonda appeared destined to reach the top. Perhaps now if he’s shaken off his injury concerns the potential that encouraged Brendan Rodgers to agree an 18-month loan deal for Musonda could now be realised under Jose Mourinho at Roma. It would be quite the redemption story.
Niall J
