Chelsea loanee Miazga eyes long-term Premier League stay

Chelsea loanee Matt Miazga still sees his future in the Premier League as he returns to England with the United States national team.

The 23-year-old joined the Blues from New York Red Bulls in January 2016, signing a four-and-a-half year deal at Stamford Bridge, but he has made just two appearances for the club since then.

He spent 18 months on loan at Vitesse in Eredivisie before joining Ligue 1 outfit Nantes for the 2018-19 campaign, but he has quickly fallen down the pecking order after manager Miguel Cardoso was sacked and replaced by Vahid Halilhodzic.

Despite that he still earned a call-up to the USMNT for their upcoming friendly internationals against England and Italy, the first of which takes place at Wembley Stadium on Thursday.

And Miazga - who has previously earned 10 caps for his country - is looking forward to testing himself against the Three Lions forwards and potentially proving his Premier League credentials.

“Obviously growing up, England was a powerhouse nation and they still are,” Miazga told Goal in an exclusive interview at Brentford’s training ground ahead of the clash with Gareth Southgate's side.

"For me, it is exciting to be here and face them with the U.S. national team.

“The Premier League is the best league in the world so it was always a goal of mine to come here, I did that. Now hopefully I can come back here, but we will see what the future holds."

Miazga has had to make do with a place in the Nantes reserve side since Halihodzic's arrival, leading to speculation that he could return to west London in January.

Getty/Goal

But the centre-back insists he remains focused on winning his place back with the French side and is not looking to cut short his stay with the club.

“I am at Nantes now until the end of the season so my main focus is to give my all until the end of the season for that club.

“Obviously I need to earn my starting spot back through training and go from there. Right now, my main focus is here with the national team.

“When you go from playing every game to not playing then people are going to write things and assume things. One will say this, one will say that, but it doesn’t really matter to me.

"They can say whatever they want, my main focus is Nantes and to earn back my spot.”

Miazga has started seven of the USMNT’s last nine matches as they continue their rebuild following their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.