Mancienne facing career crunch time

Michael Mancienne hasn't found his place in English football quite yet. With the defender currently coming to the end of his latest in a spell of loan periods at Wolves from parent club Chelsea, the 23-year-old has been instrumental in helping the Molineux outfit in their bid to fight off relegation despite being forced to sit out much of the action with a knee injury.

The question for the young defender now, though, is where his long-term future lies. With Mancienne getting to that age where spending extended spells on loan at the league's lesser lights and then returning to his parent club only to be effectively rejected time and time again becomes slightly depressing, now is the time for the youngster to think seriously about his next move. There is doubt over whether he has what it takes to cut it at the very highest level.



When quizzed on the issue recently, the Chelsea man stated, with some reluctance, that he has to go back to the Blues at the end of his current loan spell, but beyond that he remains unsure about his next move. With Mancienne sounding far happier when describing his time at Wolves and his achievements to date there than when pondering his move back south to London, could it be that the time has come for the player to give up on his Chelsea career and head off to pastures new?



Should Mancienne decide against all the odds that Chelsea is where he wants to settle over the next five years or so of his career, he'll just have to hope that the owner picks a new manager (assuming for a second that Carlo Ancelotti is dispatched this summer as expected) who is willing to pick actual emerging talent rather than the personal picks of the owner, regardless of form.