Over the past couple of seasons, a lot has been made of Chelsea and the incredibly vast number of young players they have loaned out. Most of the coverage has taken a negative theme, with pundits and commentators alike criticising them for not giving youngsters a chance in the first team. This criticism has not just been isolated to Chelsea. The common rhetoric about the loan system nationwide is largely negative. Even though there are some huge success stories and how it has greatly benefitted players, who are now operating at the highest level.

While the two-window transfer ban has largely forced their hand, the emergence of Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, and Fikayo Tomori at Chelsea this season, has brought into light the huge benefits that going out on loan can have. All three of the players mentioned above, played a combined 125 times in the Championship last season. It is impossible to overlook parallels between this exposure to regular first-team football and how the three Chelsea youngsters are performing this season. Would they have received the same number of minutes if they had spent last season at Chelsea? It is fair to assume that they would not.

The success stories of the loan system are littered throughout the premier league. If you look at the top 10 of the premier league last season there is a player in every first team who has spent at least half a season out on loan. Mohamed Salah the golden boot winner for the past two seasons, famously went out on loan to Fiorentina and Roma after signing for Chelsea. Harry Kane, England Captain, went out on loan four times before establishing himself in the Tottenham first team. Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Ryan Fraser, Jordan Henderson, and Harvey Barnes are just a few names now playing regularly in the Premier League that have spent time out on loan at various football league and Premier League clubs.

You only have to look at the two Manchester clubs to see how they are not taking advantage of the loan system. Phil Foden, of Manchester City, who received the golden ball for the best player during England’s u17 World Cup win in India in 2017. Was recently described by Pep Guardiola as ‘the most talented player’ he has ever seen, but he has only made 10, yes 10 Premier League minutes this season. To put that into context Callum Hudson-Odoi, another star from the u17 England team in 2017, who has only just made his recovery from an Achilles injury last weekend has made 27 Premier League minutes. It could be argued that Foden is falling behind some of the other stars from that World Cup, with Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi with full England caps and Morgan Gibbs-White established in the first team at Wolves, there is substantial evidence to back up that claim. Many have claimed that Phil Foden is better off staying at Manchester City and training every day with Guardiola. While it can hardly be a disadvantage for Foden to learn daily from the serial winner. The question should now be, is it the best thing for Foden’s development as a footballer and would be better served going out on loan? Especially when you compare his development to the likes of Abraham and Mount, who have been gaining regular minutes at the highest level and reaping the benefits.

On the red side of Manchester, there is the unique case of Marcus Rashford. Rashford famously never went on loan, he burst onto the scene during one week in 2016 when he scored back to back braces against Midtjylland and Arsenal and hasn’t looked back. But should he. Rashford has played 177 times for Manchester United over the past 5 seasons. Hugely impressive given his tender age of 21. Throughout that time, he has scored 48 goals, which again is impressive, but that number should be higher given his obvious ability and the number of minutes he is playing. When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over as caretaker manager in December 2018, much was talked about whether he was going to have an impact on Rashford’s finishing ability, something which has been criticised consistently since his breakthrough season. While there was an initial upturn in goals and assists during Solskjaer’s honeymoon period, Rashford still languished to 13 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions in the 2018/19 season. Now, with Tammy Abraham having scored as many Premier League goals in 7 games as Marcus Rashford has since January 2019, the question should be raised whether a season on loan at a Championship team, would have been the right move for Rashford’s development back in 2017. Where it would be fair to assume, he would have scored 20+ goals. He would have built confidence in his finishing and got a taste of what is necessary to have that composure in front of goal. Something that is currently preventing him from becoming a top-level striker.

While there are of course many cases of players wasting away on loan, none more so that at Chelsea, if the right combination of talent, persistence, and environment can be achieved, the opportunity for youngsters to play matches at a high level is something that can be instrumental in their development. Therefore, the loan system in England is unfairly criticised, when a huge number of players owe much of their success in gaining regular minutes out on loan in their formative years as a professional.

By Luke Quibell

04/10/2019

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