Play me or loan me out, Bruma tells Chelsea

Dutch teenager Jeffrey Bruma is unhappy with his lack of first-team opportunities at Chelsea and has said he will ask for a move on loan in January unless the situation improves.

Bruma, 18, won his first cap for the Netherlands in August but since then has started just one of Chelsea's nine games this season, the Carling Cup defeat to Newcastle United, and he said his situation at Stamford Bridge is "difficult". Bruma said: "I will evaluate my situation with Chelsea before Christmas and it's possibly better for my development to be farmed out on loan.

"Playing only two or three matches in several months is not good enough for me. I've played with the reserves for two full years now and I feel like I'm ready to play for the first team on a weekly basis."

The Netherlands manager, Bert van Warwijk, has told Bruma that he needs to play more if he has aspirations of playing full international matches. "It's crucial to get regular first-team action if you want to play for Holland's senior side," Bruma said. "However, I've only made six first-team appearances for Chelsea so far. In the beginning, I was just happy to be part of the first team. I'm almost 19 though and I really want to take the next step in my career. I need to play first-team football on a regular basis.

"There are moments that the coach [Carlo Ancelotti] tells me that I won't play, despite having trained very well all week. That's difficult for me. They've told me that my time will come though and that I should be patient. That's probably the best thing to do.

"The national-team coach [Van Marwijk] has told me that I need to get more playing time and this has made me think about my direct future. I do realise that I still need to improve certain areas of my game though."