Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas has today joined Championship side Middlesbrough on a season-long loan for a second consecutive season.

The 22-year old made 17 appearances in six months under Aitor Karanka last year as Middlesbrough went agonizingly close to winning promotion to the Premier League. As the Championship side gear up for another run at promotion, Kalas may end up being a key figure in the fight for Premier League football whilst gaining a large amount of experience along the way.

An impressive performance against Liverpool

Kalas made his debut for Chelsea in 2013 but his best moment for the Premier League champions came in 2014 when he managed to keep tabs on Luis Suarez in a 2-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield. Despite making just four appearances for Chelsea so far, Kalas can earn his way back into Jose Mourinho's plans with a successful campaign under Aitor Karanka.

Mourinho and Karanka are good friends from their Real Madrid days and the former trusts the Middlesbrough boss in developing the on-loan Chelsea youngsters.

Chelsea may end up recalling Kalas if need be but for now, the 22-year old will ply his trade with Middlesbrough again, this time on a full season-long loan. The versatile defender, who can play at right-back or centre-half, spoke to Middlesbrough's club website, saying, "I'd already decided at the end of last season if Chelsea would like to get me out on loan, this would be my first choice."

Learning from a veteran defender

Kalas can gain valuable experience out of the loan move as he has the chance to learn from English football veteran, Jonathan Woodgate. The 35-year old veteran is expected to help Kalas progress and both will be aiming to help Middlesbrough back into England's top flight for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign. 

The Czech defender recently captained the Czech Republic U21s at the European Championships this summer but has only made one appearance for the national team.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Harry  Harris
Covering the Premier League, Bundesliga and NFL. Writing for VAVEL since May 2014. Chelsea FC and Atlanta sports.