Ex-Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair says that the Blues recognised very early on that Andreas Christensen was a special talent and needed to go out on loan to get a taste of regular first team action.
The centre-back joined Chelsea’s academy from Brondby in 2012 and made his senior debut for the English giants in the 2014/15 campaign.
Christensen managed just three first team appearances for Chelsea before going out on loan to Borussia Monchengladbach for two years the following season.
The Denmark international, who turned out 82 times in total for the Bundesliga outfit, has been in good form since returning to Chelsea in the summer.
The 21-year-old has made four appearances in all competitions for Chelsea this season, with the latest coming in the Blues’ 6-0 win over Qarabag in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
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And Sinclair, who believes Christensen has vastly benefitted from his loan spell at Borussia Monchengladbach, insisted that Chelsea always had high hopes for the youngster.
“He's a class act”, Sinclair told Chelsea TV.
“The two years he's had over in Germany have done him the world of good.
“But let's not forget there were high hopes for him before then, coming through the academy.
“We recognised very early on he was an excellent player and he needed to go out, get that experience and come back.
“For me if you put him in in any type of game, that is this or the Premier League, he's proved already he can go into a side and be very comfortable.”
Christensen is expected to play a big part for Chelsea over the coming season as boss Antonio Conte wrestles with pushing for silverware on several fronts.
