Liam Rosenior issues update on Hull City futures of on-loan Chelsea trio | OneFootball

Hull City head coach Liam Rosenior has provided an update on the futures of Chelsea loanees Nathan Baxter, Xavier Simons and Harvey Vale.

The trio arrived on a temporary basis from the Blues in the summer and have had mixed fortunes at the MKM Stadium.

Goalkeeper Baxter had started the season as the club’s second choice behind Matt Ingram, but established himself as number one after being handed an opportunity in September under former boss Shota Arveladze. He retained his place between the sticks following Rosenior’s appointment, but he has missed the last seven games due to injury, returning to Stamford Bridge for his rehabilitation.

But Simons and Vale have found life tougher in East Yorkshire. The former has made just one substitute appearance in the league back in October and has barely featured in the matchday squad since, while the latter has made one start and one substitute appearance in the Championship and has also regularly not been included in the 18.

The pair did both start the recent 2-0 home defeat to Fulham in the FA Cup, but Rosenior confirmed that the club are close to ending Vale’s loan deal.

“We are on the verge of officially ending his [Harvey Vale] loan. That was a collaborative decision. That’s not Harvey wanted to leave this club, and that’s something where we felt for his development at this stage of his career, he needs the minutes and he needs first team football,” Rosenior told BBC Humberside.

“I can’t guarantee that with the great squad I’ve got here. Good luck to him, he’s a lovely lad, great kid and he’s got a lot of potential.”

Despite Simons receiving even less game time than Vale, Rosenior says he would like to keep the 19-year-old, while he also made his desire to retain Baxter’s services clear.

“It’s a different case entirely with them [Xavier Simons and Nathan Baxter]. I really like the both of them, obviously Nathan is going to be out for a long time. With Xavi, I love the kid, I think he’s got a great future in the game, and he’s someone I enjoy working with, and want to work with in the long-term,” Rosenior said.

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The verdict

In truth, none of these loan deals have worked out the way all parties would have hoped.

Baxter could perhaps be the exception to that, but he is expected to be sidelined for a significant period of time.

The contrast in Rosenior’s stance on Vale and Simons is intriguing given that the pair have both had similarly limited minutes, but his comments about wanting to work with Simons long-term suggest a potential return to the Tigers next season, which would not be a surprise as the club are clearly trusted by Chelsea to develop their youngsters.

With an already large squad which is likely to be added to before the closure of the window, it is unlikely Vale would receive many more opportunities in the remainder of the season, so sending him back to his parent club makes sense.