Why Chelsea Are Wrong to Send Andreas Christensen out on Loan Again

When John Terry was coming through the ranks and learning his trade at Chelsea, it was Marcel Desailly who played a big part in his development.

The influence of the Frenchman on the youngster's career was significant. Desailly would lead by example and when the time called for it, he gave Terry the advice every up-and-coming player needs in order to succeed.

It's something Terry himself has spoken about at length, although it wasn't just Desailly's influence that played a part—it was playing football matches.

"Initially it meant so much to me just to break into the side. There were people like Frank Leboeuf, Desailly and Emerson Thome in front of me," Terry once recalled in a Chelsea magazine interview, reflecting on how he started to become a more established presence under Claudio Ranieri.

"Then, all of a sudden, we weren't doing so well and Ranieri put me in out of the blue. That was a progressive achievement in itself."

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Note how it was Chelsea's failure on the pitch that gave Terry his chance. It wasn't a burning desire to find some way for this talented young kid to play; it was necessity. When things were bright and the team was succeeding, Ranieri could hardly put a young player in ahead of World Cup winners and seasoned professionals.

It was when things took a turn for the worse that Terry got his chance. Chelsea's ageing back line was growing stale and needed freshening up. Ranieri had a choice to make: buy a new defender to strengthen or reinforce from within.

He chose the latter and the rest is history. John Terry became John Terry.

A struggling back line; ageing defenders. It all sounds rather familiar for Chelsea right now. For Desailly 15 years ago, think Terry in his present guise; for Leboeuf, think Gary Cahill.

Current head coach Antonio Conte has some big issues to address in defence, but if he wants to turn to some of Chelsea's younger talent for the answers, he can't. They're mostly out on loan.

Andreas Christensen is the player with the biggest profile of the bunch. He's played a handful of games for Chelsea—mostly out of position at right-back under Jose Mourinho—but it's for Borussia Monchengladbach where he has caught the eye and really impressed.

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The hope was that after a season of first-team football last year, the 20-year-old would return to reinforce the Blues' defence this summer when it's in need of fresh blood. Instead he's back in the Bundesliga as the two-year deal Chelsea signed with Monchengladbach doesn't allow them to recall the Danish defender.

It's frustrating as, defensively, Chelsea's youngsters should be feeling positive. It's the one area in Conte's squad where it's not unrealistic for them to be picking up minutes and gradually becoming regulars.

Chelsea have just four recognised first-team defenders to start the campaign—Kurt Zouma remains on the injury comeback trail—and Conte desperately needs to add to that. Unlike his compatriot Ranieri, the former Italy boss is going to be forced to delve into the transfer market, though.

Whereas Terry benefited from being around experienced players before taking their place, Chelsea's youngsters are going to have another obstacle put firmly in their way, Christensen included.

Should Conte sign another defender this summer, whomever it is will have to be of significant quality. Chelsea aren't looking for squad members, they need upgrades. That costs money and in the modern game, those expensive transfer fees get players starting places.

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When Christensen returns to Stamford Bridge next summer, regardless of what he has achieved in Germany, it's going to be difficult for him to break through at Chelsea.

Assuming Conte remains in charge, he'll have his formula and players in place. Chelsea will be expecting to be a Champions League club again, so how can the Italian risk so much on a young talent over the players he has been building around? He can't.

The time for Chelsea to be making these big changes is now. The transition from old to young can't be put on hold until their most talented players are back from loan spells. With the position the club is in, this summer is the most important since Roman Abramovich first took charge in 2003.

The Blues have hit the reset button; this is very much Chelsea 2.0 of the Abramovich era. Mourinho's gone and Terry is the only remaining player from the side that conquered England and Europe so emphatically. Conte's mission now is to steer the ship in a new direction and redefine the very fabric of the Stamford Bridge team.

How is he going to do it? Not with the likes of Christensen, who on the back of last season looks ready for more exposure to the Premier League.

If any player is to benefit from his loan spell at Chelsea, it's most likely to be Jake Clarke-Salter or Fikayo Tomori. The pair looked strong in the development squads last season, but with little first-team action between them, we should be looking at baby steps for both in 2016/17.

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Terry was eased into action at Chelsea and that's how every young player grows in stature. It's too soon to be expecting Clarke-Salter and Tomori to step in and play with authority. It isn't for Christensen, however.

When Ranieri returned to Chelsea as a Premier League champion with Leicester City on the final day of the 2015/16 season, he was asked in the post-match press conference about his relationship with Terry.

At the time we weren't sure if Terry would be a Chelsea player this season. There had been no news on him signing the new contract he had been offered days earlier and judging by his emotional speech to the Chelsea crowd after the game, the 35-year-old was leaving the club.

"John Terry, you know him as my son," Ranieri told journalists. "I believed in him when he was young. I put him in the team when there were a couple of champions of the world and European champions at Chelsea like Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf. But I played John as for me it was better to put him in the squad. He made a fantastic career."

Christensen has so much to do in his own career if he's ever to be compared with Terry when he hits the Chelsea captain's current age. As youngsters, though, the parallels are there. The former England international got his chances when it mattered, but what of the Danish youngster?

He shouldn't be on loan this season. Christensen should be at Chelsea and making big strides in his career with the Blues, not to mention learning from Terry as he did from Desailly.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes.