17 November 2023 , 18:21
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France under-21 boss Thierry Henry has voiced his growing concerns over Lesley Ugochukwu's lack of game time since his £25million transfer to Chelsea this summer.
Ugochukwu, 19, joined the Blues in August as part of Todd Boehly's latest round of extravagant spending, but the 6ft 3in midfielder has only played 140 minutes of Premier League football. Ahead of his arrival, Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino suggested that it wasn't even his decision to sign the former Rennes starlet and his own bosses made the call instead.
Ugochukwu's slow start has left Henry - who began his new job in charge of the under-21s this autumn, winning all four matches so far - to raise concerns about the 19-year-old's development alongside that of fellow French prospect Johann Lepenant, who plays for Lyon. "Johann's situation is increasingly worrying," the Arsenal legend is quoted as saying by L'Equipe.
"For us, he continues to be more than good and we'll continue to help him on a physical level whilst he's on international duty, but it's up to him and his entourage to solve the problem with Lyon."
Henry then added: "The problem is the same with Lesley. Even if the situation is different at Chelsea because in front of him there are players like Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.
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"But he's not playing, and nowadays, these players don't even play with the reserve side to keep their rhythm. At the start of the season, you can benefit from the physical conditioning of the pre-season but the benefits fade. I hope he can continue to keep on course physically."
Ugochukwu made a late cameo appearance for Chelsea during Sunday's thrilling 4-4 draw with Manchester City, having done the same in the 4-1 thrashing of Tottenham last Monday. Despite reports that Pochettino wasn't overly keen on signing the youngster, it's emerged that Ugochukwu impressed the Blues manager back when he was in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.
Lesley Ugochukwu has made 11 appearances for Chelsea, mostly as a substitute (Visionhaus/Getty Images)Get involved! Should Lesley Ugochukwu go out on loan in January or stay at Chelsea? Join the debate in the comments section.
"When I heard that Chelsea were interested in me I didn't ask myself any questions," Ugochukwu told talkSPORT. "I thought, 'it's one of the biggest clubs in the world' so I had to go there.
"Every player wants to be in the best team with the best coach and Pochettino is part of that. In one of my first starts in the French league was against Pochettino so when I came to the US [for pre-season] he told me that I was one of the guys who made him love the league."
"He's a man who has a lot of experience with Southampton, Tottenham and PSG so he's trained big teams and now Chelsea. I'm 100 per cent sure that he's going to take me to another level, for sure."