View From The Town End: Lucas Piazon

We asked our good friend's over at SB Nation's Chelsea blog We Ain't Got No History what they've made of Piazon's career so far and what we might expect from the midfielder at the Madejski Stadium.

Here's what Stephen Schmidt from WAGNH had to say....

When Lucas Piazon joined Chelsea in 2011, he was virtually unknown throughout the European football community. The Sao Paulo academy product was already fairly well known in Brazil, though, having just starred in both the U17 South American Championship and World Cup before deciding to join the Blues.

Once he arrived in London, Piazon immediately caught the attention of Chelsea fans everywhere. He excelled at the youth level in England, and was honoured as Chelsea's Young Player of the Year for the 2011/12 season, despite having only been eligible to play for about half of the campaign. That earned the youngster a spot in the Blues' first team squad for the start of the following season, though the Brazilian was sent on loan to Malaga shortly after the arrival of Rafa Benitez. He's been away from the first team ever since, with mixed results.

The 21-year old barely featured during his time in La Liga, though in fairness, he was at a very good, and very deep squad which made a real push in the Champions League. His following spell at Vitesse Arnhem was a tale of two halves, with Piazon looking like the best player in the Eredivisie for most of the first 2/3 of the season, before doing his best Cesc Fabregas impersonation during the final two months of the campaign.

The impressive spell in the Netherlands was enough for Chelsea to opt for an aggressive assignment next, but Piazon seemed to stall a bit in the Bundesliga last season. Much of that probably comes down to the nature of Piazon's game at the moment, which is far from complete at the moment.

Lucas is one of the more impressive offensive prospects around, largely due to his gifts with the ball at his feet. He's got an eye for a tough pass, seems to know when to go the safer route, delivers fantastic corners and free kicks, and is a relatively good finisher for a player of his age. He's got decent size, though he's not the fastest or most agile, but makes up for that lack of athleticism with tremendous movement and great balance.

Defensively, there's plenty of potential, but at the moment, that's about the best thing I can say about the youngster's game. Piazon isn't quick to recognize what the opposition is doing, and often times, his movement offensively leaves teammates exposed when the ball is turned over. He's very similar to two former Chelsea players in this regard, reminding me of both Juan Mata and Kevin De Bruyne when his side loses possession.

Fortunately for Piazon, the Championship isn't exactly full of players who will know how to take advantage of Piazon's offensive nature, though there are plenty of clubs that will be able to take advantage if the Brazilian leaves too much space to be exploited. He ought to do well for you guys, though I'd guess he starts the season as an option when Steve Clarke is looking to attack, hopefully showing enough to earn himself a regular starting role.

Thanks again to Stephen and you can find out more on how Chelsea fans at WAGNH are viewing Piazon and their other 32 loanees here.