Chelsea: Lucas Piazon the troubled face of loan policy
By Josh Sippie
The books at Chelsea indicate that there are 38 players on loan from the club. Look no further than Lucas Piazon for why this policy is not fruitful.
Chelsea take a very unique policy when it comes to moving players. They never sell. A recent report shows that the Blues have 38 players out on loan. 18 of those 38 loanees are 21 years of age or older, making many wonder when/if they will ever actually make an impact with the club they may have forgotten they represent.
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It’s a questionable policy. Long-term loaning rarely ever turns into much. A loan is normally used to get first team experience for a young player that is unlikely to find that experience with his home squad, but still needs to grow. For teenagers, it makes sense.
But to continuously loan out players that are approaching their mid-20s feels like a problem in and of itself. What’s the purpose? It’s unlikely that the player even identifies with the club anymore. Even so, what are the odds that the Blues are even monitoring all 38 players?
Look no further than Chelsea loanee Lucas Piazon for the perfect example of why this loan policy can be problematic. Once one of the hottest prospects in the world of football, Piazon has now fallen victim to the Chelsea loan system.
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“I’m tired of moving abroad,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports. “It makes no sense to go on loan all the time. It is not good for any player in my experience – or the experience of the other boys.”
He went on to point out that for a 22 year old to never spend more than a year at any team is not conducive to his growth and his logic is plain to see. Part of becoming a great footballer is ingratiating himself with the club. He needs to a be a part of a team for the long haul.
Every team utilizes their own tactics and their own personnel, there is no continuity. It’s like every year is starting from square one.
To make matters even worse, Piazon pointed out that he has had no football-related conversations with new boss Antonio Conte. Which begs the question of what exactly they were talking about.
Still, what does that say to these loaned out players? It says that they don’t matter and they are only here on the off chance that they can latch onto something when nothing is given to them.
Chelsea’s loan system helps no one. What is the point in loaning out Juan Cuadrado for three years? Do they really expect him to come back and be worth the lengthy loan?
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Piazon is the face of what such a damaging policy can do to the youngsters. He’s 22 now and all of the hype that was placed on him has effectively been removed from having to start anew each and every year.