Harvey Vale is currently on loan at League One side Bristol Rovers. He sits atop the list of Chelsea loanees by the amount of game time he receives, with 2,337 minutes played.
“There are so many big names on that list…” the 20-year-old told The Athletic. “I’m sure there will be some on there wishing they were in my position. I know I did that last season when I was at Hull and not seeing much action.
“We’ve had lots of chats [with Alfie Gilchrist] over the years about our dreams and ambitions. One of those is obviously to play in the Chelsea team together. The academy encourage you to go and watch first-team games. When we saw Reece James, Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah playing, having come through together, we sat there thinking: ‘This could be us one day.’
“I see Alfie getting his chance and it gives me belief, too. It probably worked the same way for him, too, when I made my Chelsea debut. To see the academy boys even on the bench — and there have been quite a lot this season — has been encouraging. You can see a pathway is still there.
“You still have to work really hard for it because this is one of the biggest clubs in the world. That is the way it has to be.
“Come the summer, we’ll evaluate how well I’ve done and have talks. We will take it from there. My next target will be trying to impress Mauricio Pochettino in pre-season; to have an opportunity to prove myself.
“Playing for Chelsea’s first team is my No 1 goal.”
The versatile Englishman made his Chelsea debut in 2021, made further four first-team appearances in the 2021/22 season and won the Academy player of the year in 2022 after breaking into Thomas Tuchel's squad.
