Alfie Gilchrist has been speaking to the Daily Mail about his career so far, and according to him a loan to the Championship was a natural next step after his senior breakout with the Blues under Mauricio Pochettino last season.

"It was just the next step for me, you know? There was a big squad at Chelsea, I wanted to play this season, and this is what I needed to do for myself. So far, it's worked out to be the right decision," the defender said of his season-long move to Sheffield United.

With Trevoh Chalobah already loaned with a view to a sale, we were hoping Alfie would stick around to provide some academy representation in defence. But the loan made a lot of sense for him, and he's certainly making the most of it now.

But the qualities he showed in his cameos last season, plus his solid first campaign as a regular now he's on loan, show he's got all the potential needed to be a huge hit somewhere. Last summer there was talk of a Serie A move to Como, and would love a European move next to develop Alfie further.