George Boateng urges Abdul Baba Rahman to return to Chelsea and fight for place

Former Aston Villa midfielder George Boateng has urged Abdul Baba Rahman to return to Chelsea and fight for a place under Frank Lampard.

Rahman, 26, is expected to return to Stamford Bridge following the expiration of his loan contract at Real Mallorca.

The Ghana defender has been left in no man's land after another frustrating injury spell in the La Liga.

The left-back has been shipped on loan at Schalke 04, Stade Reims and lately Mallorca due to lack of playing opportunities in England.

And former Dutch-international George Boateng, who also hails from the West African nation, has urged his compatriot to fight for a place in the Chelsea team.

"Its an unfortunate situation because when you have an injury like that, it always seems to affect every player. It's not easy. It's a very high-risk injury but he came back, he's playing and he's fit again," Boateng told Citi TV’s Tracker show.

"All I can say is that being a Chelsea player under Frank Lampard now seems to give more players of younger ages a chance to play.

"First and foremost, I will say join the pre-season. Join them, see if you can work your way into the squad and prove yourself during pre-season.

"You see young players like Hudson Odoi getting his chance. So he will also have an opportunity. But if he's done with the pre-season, he's fully fit and after a conversation with Frank Lampard he feels there is no opportunity for him to play, then I would probably seek for another loan deal.

"But at the moment, he should go for pre-season with Chelsea and prove himself that he's fit and fully recovered and fight for a place.

"But you cannot fight for a place in six weeks. He needs to dig in and work his socks off to get your opportunity.

"Sometimes you have to sit there for three months and wait for one appearance and show what you can do. That is the best advice I can give him at the moment.

Rahman featured just three times for Spanish side due to injury setback.

It's been a frustrating career for the 25-year-old, which has been littered with recurrent injuries.

The Ghana international joined Chelsea in a high-profile move back in 2015 but made just 23 appearances in five-years.