The 21-year old Oriol Romeu joined Chelsea back in 2011 after impressing the London club while playing for Barcelona. He continued his form in his first season with Chelsea, however could not keep up the momentum last season as he was troubled by injuries which restricted him to just 9 appearances throughout the season. He last featured in Chelsea’s 3-1 victory over Sunderland way back in December.

Now that it is time for the club to assess their personnel plans for next season, it is certain that Chelsea will give thought about Romeu’s future at the club, given the fact that the 21-year old will find it difficult to regain his place in the starting 11 with Chelsea preferring to go with John Obi Mikel instead. The recent appointment of Jose Mourinho and his yet unknown plans for Romeu are not making things any easier for him.

Metro reports that Romeu has now decided to make a move away from Chelsea, maybe for a year on loan to a club where he will get as much game time as possible. It is being reported that Valencia are interested in taking Romeu on loan, and are making preparations for the same. The La Liga club are using their promise of providing him regular first-team football as bait to secure his signature for next season.

However, this deal might still not materialize, given the fact that the future of Mikel is itself up in the air. There is reported interest from Turkish giants Galatasaray in purchasing him. If that happens, then the path is clear for Romeu to walk into the first-team setup, unless and until Chelsea go ahead and buy a replacement for him from outside.

Do you think that Romeu will go out seeking first-team action? Or will Mikel’s possible departure work in his favor in giving him his regular football which he is looking for? Though this story is still in its initial stages, we will bring to you any developments which take place.