Marco van Ginkel says that Chelsea have opened discussions with his agent over a deal extension, which could see him remain at the club beyond the summer.
Van Ginkel was dubbed the ‘next Frank Lampard’ by ex-Vitesse Arnhem manager Peter Bosz when he completed an £8million transfer move to Chelsea from the Eredivisie side in 2013.
Unfortunately, he has never come close to living up to that expectation, having been restricted to just four first-team games for Chelsea amid struggles with injuries.
The 27-year-old midfielder took in loan spells at AC Milan, Stoke City and PSV before returning to London in the summer of 2018, at which point he suffered another serious blow to his Chelsea career.
Van Ginkel was forced to undergo surgery to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, and the player hasn’t seen a single minute of football action since.
He had, however, finally resumed training fully before the 2019-20 campaign was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, and he will be in contention for a place in Lampard’s squad when the blues get their season back underway against Aston Villa.
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Van Ginkel’s current contract is set to expire at the end of the month, but he claims that talks over a renewal are ongoing currently.
He told Dutch publication AD: “My agent, Karel Jansen, is in talks with Chelsea about a new contract for me. I am very happy at this show of confidence in me by the club.
“It is quite something when a club tries to keep a player who has been out injured so long and in these uncertain times as well.
“If a deal can be done I expect to make my comeback in Chelsea’s Under-23 side. Otherwise I will be a free agent this summer, and we’ll look elsewhere.
“The prospects look very good. I have worked really hard to come back.
“I can now train four to five times a week. I was on the point of rejoining group training in March before the coronavirus outbreak.”