Has Baba Rahman got a future at Chelsea? Here’s how he has done so far at Reading | OneFootball

Reading left-back Baba Rahman has stated his desire to get back to the top level with Chelsea or another club following the expiration of his loan spell at the Select Car Leasing Stadium at the end of the season, speaking to the Evening Standard.

The Ghanaian has the perfect opportunity to stake his claim for a spot in the top flight in the coming weeks with the defender currently away with the Black Stars at the World Cup, having the opportunity to showcase his talent on the biggest stage.

However, it’s currently unclear whether he will be a starter in Qatar with Gideon Mensah and ex-Fulham man Denis Odio likely to be competing for a starting spot on the left as well as Rahman.

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If he does manage to appear in all three group games though, he will be testing himself against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, Son Heung-min’s South Korea and a tricky Uruguay side.

Does he deserve to start based on his performances for his current loan side though?

Probably not if you don’t dive deep deeper into his statistics – because he hasn’t been brilliant going forward despite being given a bit of extra freedom at wing-back and has been unable to make a huge difference defensively either.

In fairness, he has helped to keep three clean sheets in ten league games this term and that isn’t a terrible record – but it’s not as if he’s been praised for his defensive solidity in the past couple of months.

Failing to record a single goal or assist either, many Reading supporters are calling for the return of Nesta Guinness-Walker to the starting lineup.

The latter may be inexperienced at this level – but has offered more going forward this season with his trickery, link-up play and speed down the left-hand side.

In fairness to Rahman, he has won 64% of his aerial duels this season, come out victorious in 63.5% of his defensive duels and has also made more than four interceptions per game on average.

He needs to be doing much more going forward though, completing just 30% of his crosses and failing to be effective enough for a player who is playing further forward than he was last term.

At 28 and with Marc Cucurella and Ben Chilwell ahead of him in the pecking order, his chance at Stamford Bridge is probably up but he could be an asset elsewhere, though he may be a more suitable option for a second-tier side rather than a top-flight team.