Young Chelsea  stars Josh McEachran  and Romelu Lukaku  will be allowed to leave Stamford Bridge on loan if they do not play enough games this year, according to The Sun.

It’s said that Andre Villas-Boas rates them highly, but is concerned that a lack of first team football may hamper their development and they may have to go away from Chelsea to find regular football.

McEachran had previously asked if he could go out on a loan spell but Villas-Boas said he was to remain at the club as he is an important part of the squad and will feature in his future plans.

Belgian forward Lukaku was wanted by Stoke’s Tony Pulis, but he wasn’t allowed to be loaned to another club during the same transfer window and won’t be eligible for a loan until the winter.

Should we be loaning these youngsters out or do they deserve their chances in Chelsea’s first team?

Personally, I think both should be featuring more regularly in Chelsea’s first team, especially Lukaku, who I believe good enough to be our second choice forward and would rather see us move on someone who doesn’t represent a long-term future, such as Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka (both could still leave for nothing in summer), or even Salomon Kalou.

Before he moved to Chelsea, Lukaku said that if he did move to Stamford Bridge then he would not like to be loaned out as Thibaut Courtois was, so what’s to say his feelings will change by winter and why can’t we develop our own talent without shipping them out on loan?

He’s only 18 and isn’t experienced at this level, but standing at 6ft 3in with the frame of a heavyweight boxer, he’s built to cope with the pace and physicality of the Premier League and I want to see him bullying central defenders whilst wearing a Chelsea shirt, not anyone else’s. He’s a player that is genuinely proud to be at the club and I believe he should be given the chance to show it.

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Things are slightly different for McEachran, who some argue is a little lightweight to feature regularly in the Premier League but barring one error against Aston Villa last season he has not looked out of his depth when he’s played in our first team. Cesc Fabregas was hardly a man mountain when he broke into the Arsenal team as a teenager and Luka Modric, our #1 target of the transfer window, isn’t either because they are players that predominantly rely on the technical ability, as they should do in the positions they play.

Others may argue that as so many players are ahead of them then it’d be hard for them to get games regardless, but are either Drogba or Fernando Torres offering enough to keep Lukaku out completely? Do Chelsea really need to play both Ramires and Frank Lampard in the same midfield (it doesn’t work) and is the latter playing well enough to deny McEachran his chances?

The youngsters at Chelsea may only get scraps during the first half of the season, like the Carling Cup and early rounds of both the FA Cup and Champions League (except Lukaku as he’s not included in CL squad) but if they perform well in these games I hope they will be rewarded for their efforts rather than being relegated straight back to the bench as they have done in the past.

Written by Anthony Williams for The ShedEnder.com

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