“Risk wasting his potential” – Chelsea eye move for MK Dons 22-year-old: The verdict

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

We brought you the exclusive that Harry Darling is on the radar of a trio of Premier League clubs from the 2021/22 campaign and Chelsea could be looking to begin their defensive rebuild with the 22-year-old.

Darling was one of the classiest ball playing defenders in League One last season for Milton Keynes Dons, and can contribute to attacks heavily with his ball carrying, wide range of passing and intelligence in possession.

The Dons narrowly missing out on automatic promotion from the third tier has meant that it is going to be difficult to hold onto Darling this summer.

We gathered the thoughts of a selection of FLW writers to see if they believe that Darling would be a smart addition for Chelsea…

Carla Devine

Darling has shown plenty of promise as a player and had a brilliant season in League One with MK Dons this season.

In 41 league appearances for the club he scored seven goals and provided an assist which is particularly impressive for a defender.

At 22-years-old, there’s still plenty to come from the defender and Darling was unlucky not to be part of a side that went up this season but it’s clear he is deserving of a step up.

However, I would argue this isn’t the right move for him.

It’s highly unlikely he would go into this Chelsea team and get regular first team football.

In fact, he’d more be looking at cup games for first team opportunities.

Therefore, you can’t help but feel as though his experience in games will dry up quickly which in itself could halt his progression.

His talent is clear and