He signed a new six year deal before he went out on loan but you can never really tell with Chelsea - he played a reasonable amount of games before his big injury.
Considering the decline of Cahill he would surely have gotten the minutes this season to get upto speed.
Though along with Shaqiri and possibly Butland, he's the only one who really comes out of this Stoke season with much credit. Maybe Allen and Crouch at a push.