Football
ESPN staff 10y

Ryan Bertrand disappointed by Chelsea treatment

Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand says that he feels let down by his parent club Chelsea and has hinted that he hopes to make a permanent move to Ronald Koeman's side.

- Lythell: Analysing Chelsea's loan system

Bertrand, 25, is currently enjoying a ninth spell out on loan from the Blues and is just one of a remarkable 26 players farmed out on temporary contracts by Jose Mourinho's side across the globe this summer.

The two-time capped England international appeared to have made a breakthrough into the Chelsea setup during the 2012-13 campaign, when he made 38 appearances after featuring in the Champions League final penalty shootout triumph over Bayern Munich the season before, but he has been a marginal figure at Stamford Bridge since Mourinho took charge.

#INSERT type:image caption:Bertrand drew plaudits after helping Chelsea win the Champions League in the 2011-12 campaign. END#

"The situation became clear to me before I went on loan to Aston Villa (last season). I was getting those 15, 20, 25, 30-plus games a season, until I hit a stumbling block," he said, as reported by The Mirror.

"That's when the alarm bells rang. Before that, I had a chance to move from the club, but I was advised that I didn't need to do that.

"It all unravelled in front of my eyes, and certain things didn't make sense in terms of what certain people had said to me. All I ask for is honesty, and I didn't get that."

Bertrand scored his first Saints goal during Saturday's 2-1 home victory over Queens Park Rangers and the left-back says that he is enjoying life at the south coast club who currently sit in second place in the Premier League table, three points off leaders Chelsea.

#INSERT type:image caption:Bertrand is one of eight new faces at Southampton this summer. END#

It was widely expected that Southampton would struggle to live up to last season's high standards after losing a wealth of first-team players as well as coach Mauricio Pochettino in the summer. And Bertrand admits that he is surprised by how well things have gone during the early days of Koeman's tenure.

"I wanted to be in a situation where the club is looking for the same things. In a way, me as a person and Southampton as a football club are quite similar. We're both striving to do great things.

"It's strange just how positive it has been. It's almost hard to believe how well the new boys have settled in."

^ Back to Top ^