By Danny Rust
The summer transfer window saw Chelsea ship 33 players out on loan, and it has led to claims that UEFA, or FIFA, need to put a limit on the amount of players clubs can send out on temporary deals at any one time.
The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) chief Gordon Taylor has even accused Jose Mourinho of “warehousing” stars and possibly influencing competitions across Europe.
Taylor admitted: “You just wonder where the number will end because it’s a pretty strong influence that one Premier League club seems to be having in so many competitions.
“It’s a bit of a worry with so many Chelsea players out on loan. It’s almost a warehousing of players. You wonder whether it brings into question the integrity of the various competitions.”
An estimated £100m has been spent on the 33 stars that will spend some time away from Stamford Bridge before returning to west London. Twelve of those players, including expensive flops Juan Cuadrado and Mohamed Salah, have won caps for their country.
It is surely time for the rules to be changed when it comes to allowing players to leave on a temporary basis. Each club should have a maximum amount of players they can send out on loan. The players may be happy to get some game time but for many of them it would be in their best interests to leave the Premier League champions if they want to further their career.
Victor Moses, for example, has spent time on loan at Liverpool, Stoke City and now West Ham United since joining the Blues from Wigan Athletic in 2012. In three years, Moses has made less than 50 appearances for Chelsea and it is clear that he will not be in Mourinho’s first team plans in the near future. However, he still agreed a new four-year contract with Chelsea before his recent move to Upton Park.
Patrick Bamford, who impressed at Middlesbrough last season, also agreed a new contract with his parent club before moving on loan to Crystal Palace for the season. But it is clear that he will not displace Diego Costa any time soon, so surely it would be best for his career if he moved away on a permanent basis.
What does not help matters is the fact that the Premier League side have a partnership with Vitesse Arnhem. This partnership has resulted in some of the best youngsters coming through the ranks at Chelsea moving to the Dutch side to gain experience. The likes of Nemanja Matic, Gael Kakuta, Patrick van Aanholt and Bertrand Traore have spent time at the GelreDome in recent years, while five stars are currently on loan at Vitesse from Chelsea.
The whole point in a loan deal is to send players to another club in order for them to get some much-needed minutes in competitive football, with the player ideally coming back and challenging for a place in their parent club’s first team. But how likely is it that Mourinho has watched all of the 33 players who are currently away from the club? Is he watching clips of Kenneth Omeruo, the 21-year-old who is currently with Turkish side Kasimpasa? It is highly unlikely.
In order to help the players to further their careers, Chelsea should sell some of the stars who are not currently in their plans, rather than “warehousing” them. Otherwise Chelsea will have enough players to fill an NFL roster.
Questions should also be asked as to why Mourinho is not giving his youngsters a chance in the side. Despite winning the UEFA Youth League with the under-19s and the FA Youth Cup with their under-18s in four of the last six years, the club has continued to buy talented European teenagers rather than use the players they already have at their disposal. Only Ruben Loftus-Cheek has come close to breaking into the squad in recent years.
FIFA or UEFA need to act to stop this being possible, otherwise other clubs will follow Chelsea’s lead and youngsters will be at different clubs every year.
