Panzo: Why I chose Monaco over Chelsea
Panzo signed a five-year deal with Monaco
Written by Simon Austin — August 15, 2018
JONATHAN PANZO says he chose to join Monaco because they offer more opportunities than the “back and forth” of Chelsea’s loan system.
The 17-year-old signed a five-year deal with the Ligue 1 club earlier this summer following nine years with Chelsea’s Academy.
The Blues currently have 32 players out on loan and research published by TGG last year showed that they'd sent players to 87 different clubs in five years.
Panzo told The Sun: “I wanted to settle down somewhere instead of going back and forth, back and forth. I thought settling down somewhere would be better for me as a young player, to get comfortable there and do my thing.
“I just had to be a bit strong and confident in my abilities to expose myself to the world. Young players like me, or a bit older than me, are not getting the best opportunities to show themselves and expose themselves to the world.
“From what it looks like, it’s good for a certain amount of time. Maybe loan to two clubs and hopefully get your opportunity in the first-team — but it’s harder than that. You’ve got to work harder. Players at Chelsea are talented.
“It was about opportunity, really. Monaco is a big club for developing players from a young age and exposing them at a young age.
“Players like [Kylian] Mbappe, [Tiemoue] Bakayoko and [Benjamin] Mendy had an opportunity here and they took their chance. Hopefully Monaco can give me the opportunity to develop and be exposed to the world as well.”
Monaco Sporting Director Michael Emenalo was instrumental in signing Panzo. The Nigerian got to know the youngster during seven years with the west London club, latterly as Technical Director, before leaving last November.
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