Anderlecht head of academy Jean Kindermans has conceded that Charly Musonda’s decision to leave the club for Chelsea left all associated with the Belgian giants shocked.
Musonda was considered to be one of the top talents coming through the Anderlecht academy before he decided to pack his bags and leave the club for Chelsea in 2012.
The Belgian has made just seven senior appearances for Chelsea thus far and has been out on multiple loans spells at various clubs without ever looking like becoming a regular at Stamford Bridge.
He is currently nursing a long term knee injury and will be out for several months, however it was very different when he was making waves in youth football at Anderlecht.
But it all changed when he left the club for Chelsea and Kindermans admits that it left everyone at Anderlecht shocked as he was close to breaking into the first team.
He conceded that the lure of Chelsea was too much, but Anderlecht were perplexed by the Musonda’s family’s decision to leave and move to west London.
Kindermans told The Athletic: “I could not understand his mindset because I was convinced if he stayed one more season, we could have prepared him for the first team at Anderlecht.
“Leaving for Chelsea, just like [Romelu] Lukaku did in 2011, I thought it was too early.
“OK, I can understand that your pride, money, joining an internationally well-known club, can influence you.
“It is not easy to resist the big European teams, but in this specific case, for us as a club and youth development centre, it was a shock because it was the whole family who left [Lamisha and Tika were signed by Chelsea too].”
Musonda joined Vitesse for another loan spell in the summer, but could now miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury.
