Football
Exclusive: Chris Wilder Backs Alfie Gilchrist to Shine at Chelsea After Sheffield United Loan Stint
Chelsea have been told that Alfie Gilchrist will return to Stamford Bridge a much better player than when he left over the summer
Chris Wilder//Getty Images
The defender, a lifelong fan of the Blues, has made 17 appearances for the five-time Premier League title winners since entering their academy a decade ago.
With Enzo Maresca under pressure to trim the size of the squad he inherited from Maurico Pochettino after agreeing to succeed the Argentine, Gilchrist was placed with Sheffield United in August to accelerate his development.
Under contract in west London for another two years, the 20-year-old remains a huge favourite with supporters of his boyhood club following his ecstatic celebration after scoring against Everton towards the end of season.
Adapting to a New Role and Club
Chris Wilder, the United manager, is adamant that Gilchrist will be even better equipped to establish himself as a first regular under Maresca after completing his loan in the Championship.
“We’re asking Alfie to play in a slightly different way to how he does at Chelsea,” Wilder told SportsBoom.com.
“That’s going to be great for his footballing education and will make him even more well-rounded.”
Alfie is a really promising young player with a bright future ahead of him. The more different challenges he has to overcome now, the better it will be for him moving forward because it’s going to give him even greater experience
“With us, Alfie is more of an out-and-out full-back who is asked to get forward whenever he can and make a difference there.”
“Obviously he has to make an impression in the opposition’s final third at Chelsea too, but they don’t set up the same way.”
Commitment and Character
“Coming here means Alfie is going to gain an even broader understanding of the game and that’s going to help him, because you’ve got to be flexible and able to adapt to perform at the highest level.”
“Being with us, because of the environment he’s in now, is really going to bring him on even more in my opinion as it’s going to broaden his base of knowledge.”
For the most part of this season, United have deployed a back four, a tactic which limits Gilchrist’s opportunities to play in his preferred centre-half role.
Instead, Wilder deploys him at right-back - a position he has quickly made his own at Bramall Lane - where United are already mounting a strong challenge for promotion from the Championship.
“Alfie is a great lad, really popular with the rest of the boys here,” said Wilder. “Sometimes you hear of players coming from the really top clubs and having a bit of an attitude about them.”
Chelsea’s Trust in Development
“Nothing could be further from the truth with Alfie. He’s down to earth and fitted in straight away.”
“One of the things I really like about him,” Wilder continued, “Is that he just loves to defend.”
“He throws himself into tackles during every single training session, showing the same commitment he does during the actual matches themselves. That’s a great quality to have and it will take him a long way.”
He was someone we’d been keeping our eye on for a while, because we could see the potential and the ability he’s got.
“We thank Chelsea for sending him to us and they know we’ll look after him properly.”
“I think it speaks volumes about them too that they didn’t want him to be guaranteed starts - which we never do. They wanted him to earn his place and that’s what he did.”
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.