Chelsea are regularly one of the biggest spenders during transfer windows. The players they buy are sometimes used by their first team, but most of the purchases they make are sent on loan to other teams.
Loaned out players often go to either SBV Vitesse or to various Championship and EPL clubs and make quick progress there. If you are interested in more detailed reports of these players’ progress you can follow football reporting sites such as sbat and see how Chelsea is vastly improving players’ progress and value through their loan system.
However, this loan system has come under increased scrutiny by football associations recently, who have been investigating whether Chelsea is using it solely as a way of making profit. We tend to disagree with this statement and here’s why.
Loans Don’t Ruin Careers
Chelsea have been blamed for destroying many talented players’ careers by sending them on loan multiple times. It has been said that young and talented players such as Tomas Kalas or Bertrand Traore could have been much better if they weren’t sent on loan or if they joined some other team instead of Chelsea. This can be true to some extent, considering the numbers in Chelsea’s ranks, but in essence it is a false claim.
In fact, it is in the players’ best interest to perform well while on loan because if they impress there, they will most likely get a chance to impress in preseason with Chelsea as well. Players such as Nathaniel Chalobah and Victor Moses played well while on loan and then got a proper run, first in preseason friendlies and then in the first team.
If You are Talented You Will Succeed Anywhere
Critics of the Chelsea loan system will say that for every Victor Moses there is one Josh McEachran. McEachran was the youngest player to appear in a Champions League match under Carlo Ancelotti, but has since sunk into obscurity.
Blaming McEachran’s failure at Chelsea’s handling of his career is wrong however. Big clubs such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid give limited opportunities to young players and it is up to the players to use those chances.
The fact that McEachran hasn’t succeeded after leaving Chelsea only adds weight to the claim that if he was as talented as everyone thought he was he would have made it on the big stage by now.
Loans No Different Than Transfers
One of the most problematic things with loans is that young players don’t get the chance to settle in one place at a crucial stage of their professional career. Players such as Lucas Piazon and Andreas Christensen have gone public with claims like these in the past and you can certainly see the point they are making.
However, moving from one club to another is nothing new in football and many young players would much rather choose regular playing minutes in different clubs than sitting on the bench for just one team. Changing a few clubs isn’t ideal, but playing time for a youngster is much more important.
