Chelsea’s big dilemma: What to do with their most promising youngster?

When Chelsea spotted Thibaut Courtois, in his teens, there was immediately belief they had found something special.

Being a goalkeeper, it was quickly apparent the usual strategy of growing the youngster through the club's youth structure, followed perhaps by a stint at Vitesse Arnhem, would not fit for this particular player.

And thus he was incubated at Atletico Madrid, where he had plenty of opportunity to gain high level experience and grow as both player and man.

While there are legitimate questions over whether or not Courtois has delivered adequate return on all that investment, the development strategy itself is accepted to have had value.

And a similar move is now underway with central defensive prospect Andreas Christensen, who is in the second season of a two-year loan to Borussia Monchengladbach.

The 20-year-old Dane is accumulating many fans in the Bundesliga, with quite a number at Stamford Bridge disappointed he was not recalled from his Rhineland posting to fight battles on home territory.

Loan deals like this are complex contractual arrangements. But if two of the three parties (that is: the player, the parent club, and the side that takes him on loan) agree, then there is almost always a way of breaking the deal early.

The issue here is that there is no will to do that – Christensen is enjoying his time in Germany; Gladbach are very happy to have him there; Chelsea see the second of these two years as beneficial to his development.

But the curious question of what happens next will, to a certain extent, inform the Blues' defensive dealings once January comes.

Noises coming out of the German camp suggest Andre Schubert's side would be even happier to keep Christensen for a third season – something not set out in the present loan deal – while there is also talk of Barcelona monitoring the Dane's progress.

Chelsea want to keep their man. He is seen as a realistic prospect for the future – far more so than many of the youngsters who have recently earned their crust on the loan circuit.

But the timing is tricky, with Antonio Conte's new three-man defensive line in a state of evolution.

Sure, it's possible to look at the existing tools at the Italian's disposal and see that there may well be a vacancy.

David Luiz fits quite well into the structure and, depending on how strongly he emerges from his enforced extended lay-off, one could imagine the same would be true of Kurt Zouma. Even Cesar Azpilicueta is showing willingness here, although he is thrust out of position in the system.

Gary Cahill has shown signs in recent weeks of adapting to it, but for John Terry this looks like being a stretch too far – and the belief is we are seeing his final run-outs for the club that he has come to embody.

So there is clearly a Christensen-shaped hole there, but does he have the requisite maturity and experience to line-up in a back three which would potentially also include relative rookie Zouma?

At 20, the Dane's developmental curve is moving sharply upward, but, if he came back 'home' at the end of this season, would he get enough games to continue that trajectory? Especially if, as expected, Conte makes a move in the January window for an experienced defender as a stopgap measure.

That raises the prospect that the best thing for Christensen may well be a third season at Borussia-Park – something many fans will instinctively dislike as an idea, but may be beneficial to all three parties.

Chelsea will have to make big decisions in January: do they stick with their present defenders, or shuffle the pack with a card or two extra thrown in?

But, whatever they decide, the bigger call will involve how that impacts on what happens to Christensen in the summer – and the timing of his hotly-anticipated return to the place many fans believe he belongs.

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