Bertrand Traoré Loaned to Ajax

Chelsea have loaned 20-year-old forward Bertrand Traoré to Ajax on a season-long loan after signing new three-year contract with the club.

The Burkino Faso international made his Premier League debut last December and ended up making ten appearances while he also added a couple of goals to his name.

He was widely tipped to remain at Stamford Bridge this season as a back-up to forwards Diego Costa and Michy Batshuayi but the club have decided he would be better off getting regular first-team football away.

Speaking about Bertrand Traoré at his first pre-match press conference for Chelsea, Antonio Conte said: “He is a good player. Together with the club we prefer for him to play a full season, to play every game and then come back because he is a good prospect for Chelsea.”

Traoré has already played and been a success in the Eredivisie scoring 20 goals in 51 appearances after being loaned to Chelsea’s feeder club Vitesse Arnhem, whom he spent a season and a half with following his move to Chelsea.

Ajax were in the market for a forward after Arek Milik – who recently competed at the European Championships for Poland – joined Italian side Napoli for £30 million, leaving the Eredivisie runners-up with only three well-recognised forwards in Anwar El Ghazi, Lasse Schöne and Richairo Živkovic.

The Chelsea forward could be a readymade replacement for Milik with similar pace and finishing qualities, and could feature for Ajax for the first time against Roda JC Kerkrade on Saturday.

Most Premier League sides, including Chelsea, like to have four first-team forwards in their squads so sending Traoré on loan to Ajax could be the clearest indication yet that the club expects to sign another striker before the end of the summer transfer window.

Chelsea reportedly tried and failed numerous times trying to buy Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, after the Spanish club insisted they wanted him to stay and were willing to offer him a first-team place.

Meanwhile, the Blues’ pursuit of Romelu Lukaku seems to be a saga that has the potential to rumble on until the summer transfer deadline day with the Belgian keen on a return to his former club.