It has been two years since Charly Musonda Jr last played for Chelsea, in a 4-0 win at Brighton. Back then, he was on top of the footballing world.
After some exciting cameos for the Blues, one of the club's most promising young prospects had just been rewarded with a lucrative new contract and was looking forward to a loan move to Celtic.
Unfortunately, not much has gone right for Musonda in the interim. The 23-year-old made just three competitive starts for Brendan Rodgers' Celtic, the last of which came on February 18, 2018, against St Johnstone.
Now, he is the middle of his second loan spell at Vitesse, but he has been restricted to just four Eredivisie appearances for the Dutch side – all as a substitute.
Chelsea had been unsurprisingly disappointed with Musonda's lack of game time in Scotland and carefully considered the numerous offers they received for the Belgian's services. In the end, they felt he would be best served by a move to their feeder club.
However, Musonda suffered a shin injury in his first friendly match for Vitesse. It was initially thought to be only a minor problem but he ended up having to deal with a succession of setbacks and his only appearance during the 2018-19 campaign came on the final matchday.
He has managed three further substitute appearances this term but the sad reality is that he has spent more time at Cobham Training Centre than at his loan club, with his mother driving him in and out for treatment on what Chelsea now fear is a chronic knee injury.
“The last year has been the toughest of my life,” Musonda told The Independent. “I’ve suffered a lot this year. Sometimes, it can get very lonely.
"Every morning I woke up with the same thought: to play. It’s only when it’s taken away that you understand how much you love football. I didn’t realise how much I could miss it.”
Along with his persistent injury issues, multiple sources have told Goal that they are also concerned Musonda has taken bad advice from his support network in the past.
These claims are hard to verify but there were issues with Gus Poyet during their time working together during Musonda's loan spell at Real Betis.
"I think he has terrific ability and he has something very hard to find in football, which is speed," the Chelsea legend told Goal. "This is a strong opinion but I am not worried to say it: Charly has to change his way of thinking about football. He has to decide by himself what he wants to do.
"If he still thinks he is the young kid with some ability, then he will lose his career. I know Charly a little bit and I tried to sign him [permanently at Betis]. Then, we had some problems and the manager gets the blame. But you need to make decisions for yourself and forget anyone around you.
"You need to put your head down and say, 'I want to be the player I can be'. If you can’t do that, it isn’t going to work. He is a player who can attack people one-versus-one and really go past people. He can make chances continually.
"If he is in an area where he can receive the ball and attack the full-back constantly, then you have problems, because he can go past you."
Musonda initially joined Betis on a six-month loan in January 2016 and he immediately impressed in La Liga, providing the imagination in midfield for Juan Merino's side.
However, even though he returned to the Benito Villamarin at the start of the following campaign, Musonda struggled under Merino's successor, Poyet, who had taken over in May.
The Uruguayan was sacked himself that November and succeeded at the helm by Victor Sanchez but Musonda made just one appearance under the new coach, and his time at Betis was cut short in January 2017.
Roma offered to take him on loan but Chelsea feared that he would spend his time at the Stadio Olimpico warming the bench.
In hindsight, it may have been a better option for Musonda than Celtic, with his development having been seriously stunted by injuries and poor moves.
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Yannick Ferrera is convinced that Musonda can still make it to the top of the game, however.
Ferrera, who is now in charge of Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Fateh, worked with Musonda at under-age level at Anderlecht and despite having also mentored the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Michy Batshuayi and Adnan Januzaj, he is adamant that the Brussels native was the best of the lot.
"When we played in European tournaments and stuff everyone was crazy about him," Ferrera told Goal. "He almost won the best player trophy at every tournament that he went to. The whole of Europe knew him already.
"A lot of teams wanted him and kept speaking to his family to sign him. We couldn't hide him. He was too good to hide. He has always been my favourite. He was the player I liked the most and the most talented I have ever coached.
"Honestly, when I saw him when he was 10 or 11 years old, I thought, 'This is a player who will be among the top five in the world. He is going to be like Iniesta or something'. I rated him that highly and I never thought that about anyone else I trained.
"First of all, he was really gifted technically. The most impressive thing with him was his vision and maturity. At 10 years old, he played like a 30-year-old guy who was already a professional. He had calm, experience and leadership that you just don't see in a kid.
"I have never seen this ever since. At some point, he made a choice with his family to move to Chelsea. After that, he did well at Betis. Then, he went to Vitesse and Celtic and he has been injured. He is injured again now.
"But I keep believing in him. I still believe he can be one of the game's biggest players. Just because he is 23, it isn't too late. His talent is still there. His vision is still there. He needs some luck with injuries, the right team and coach.
"He needs one or two years of football. Then people will see that he was not only a rising star that never made it. I am sure he will still make it. I believe that."
Chelsea have always believed in Musonda, from the first day their scouts set sights on him. It was why they went out of their way to beat Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City to sign him.
Musonda is the kind of player that fans are happy to pay to watch. Neutrals should be wishing him well in his bid to kickstart his career.
He needs some long overdue good fortune but, ultimately, it may be all down to Musonda himself and whether he's willing to do everything required to finally realise his undoubted potential.
