End Of Season Loan Report: Part 2

In part 2 of the loan report we look at the next group of Chelsea youngsters who tried to make their way in the world of first team professional football including some Premier League loan moves:

Oriol Romeu:

When Romeu joined Chelsea there was a lot of optimism about him and he initially did very well putting in some good performances for Chelsea and then picked up an injury that would hold him back. This season it was decided to send him out on loan to try and get him back into regular football and see if he can pick his form up, it was decided to send him back to his home country and play in La Liga for Valencia. Unfortunately it has not been quite what everyone would have hoped for, a combination of injury problems and not being picked for the team meant that throughout the season he only managed to make 15 starts with 3 sub appearances only managing to make 3 consecutive games on 2 occasions. I would feel that this summer we will be looking to move Oriol on and recoup some money to use elsewhere which is a shame for a young player who showed promise.

Milan Lalkovic:

After a few consecutive unsuccessful it was make or break time for Milan Lalkovic, he needed to find a club where he would play regular game to develop his game and Chelsea found that for the young winger in the shape of League 1 club Walsall. After a mixed start where he found himself in and out of the team he eventually settled down and started to command a regular starting place in the team which is exactly what he needed to be doing. In the end he managed to start a very impressive 34 games and come off the bench an additional 8 times. He also managed to score his first professional goal during this loan move and in the end bagged himself a decent 6 goals.

After kick starting his loan move late due to the unsuccessful first moves Milan will need to kick on and take it up a level. Having finished mid table in League 1 and now at the age of 21 Milan will need to hopefully be playing Championship football next season to really move on as fast he needs to unless of course the club feel he has gone as far as he can under them and allow him to move on which is also a possibility, time will have to tell for Milan this summer.

Thorgan Hazard:

Having been at Belgian club Zulte last season season and proved his quality there it was something of a surprise to see him return there again for this season especially as a number of bigger clubs had been mentioned as possibly taking him on for the season. The younger Hazard brother would have to really light up the league and show he is a level above to kick on for his career. In the end that is exactly what he did eventually winning the Belgian league player of the year award. He certainly played enough games this season starting a massive 48 games and coming off the bench on only one occasion.

Only Courtois played more minutes than Hazard this season. He was also joint second in the loan goal scoring stakes bagging 16 goals for the season. Next season will likely be another season on loan for Hazard with a whole host of clubs being linked with him including Liverpool, Everton and more recently Valencia. Wherever he does end up next season it is sure he will make an impact and it would be good to see him in the Premier League showing off his talents in next seasons competition.

Wallace:

Chelsea more and more are getting their moves pretty much spot on to aid player progression but this one is one that went drastically wrong. To be fair to Chelsea it was widely reported that they wanted to send the young Brazilian to Vitesse to settle into Europe and play games. However on the back of impressive showings in Chelsea's first team pre season tour the player felt he was ready for bigger things and when Internazionale came in for him that was where the player wanted to go. To say the loan move was a disaster is an understatement, during the who season in Serie A Wallace only started 1 game and came off the bench 3 times playing a total of 129 minutes and those appearances came early on, Wallace did not get on the pitch for Inter since December.

Wallace is now a whole year behind in his development and gone from  player who had fans looking forward to coming back to being in a position where his future is on the line and his next loan move will be a crucial one. He needs regular games week in week out now and fingers crossed that is what he will get and having only just turned 20 he does still have time on his side.

Stipe Perica:

Having signed for Chelsea this summer the 18 year old striker was immediately loaned to Dutch club NAC Breda to pick up game time and hopefully goals. The Dutch league has proven to be a decent breeding ground for young players and Perica certainly settled in well to life there. He earned himself a reputation as something of a super sub especially in his early appearances. In the end the young striker started just 4 games and came off the bench on 21 occasions. In the end he picked up 6 goals and even managed to get himself sent off one. This season you feel was one of settling into a big league and next season will be another step up. He may return to NAC Breda or maybe even move across to Vitesse to continue his development. Still being very young ideally next season he will need to be somewhere where he can start more games.

Victor Moses:

With Chelsea bringing in more top attacking talent in the likes of Willian and later Salah once Mata left Victor Moses found himself surplus to requirements and the decision was made to send him out on loan and eventually the club chosen was Liverpool. Little did we know at that time how much competition Liverpool would be for us and for the Premier League which ultimately proved to be a downfall for Moses playing time as finding a working formula manager Brendan Rodgers would stick with it. Moses in the end only made 9 starts and came off the bench 13 times scoring 3 goals. Undoubtedly Victor Moses will be moved on by Chelsea this season and again looked to bring in more than they paid for him and there will surely be plenty of clubs willing to pay for his services but his Chelsea career has surely now come to end.

Ulises Davilla:

Unusually Davilla is one loan player who is still playing league football and will continue to do so into June as he has been on loan this season in Spanish Segunda Division club Cordoba. Since signing for Chelsea the 23 year old has struggled to make an impact wherever he has gone. This season is his second in the Spanish Segunda having spent last season at Sabadell and has had season much like the last. He has made 18 starts for the Spanish club and 10 sub appearances scoring 5 goals although 3 of those came in one game back in November. Davilla is another player that has more than likely come to an end of his Chelsea association without making an appearance for the club but unfortunately his development has not gone the way it was hoped.

Romelu Lukaku:

Probably the most talked about loan player behind Courtois this season and mainly because many people feel the big Belgian could have been vital for Chelsea this season given the form of the strikers at the club this season. However Lukaku himself decided that he felt he would be better served with another season on loan rather than fight for a place at Chelsea and he eventually moved to Everton for the season. Having only just turned 21 it was probably right to let a talented young player get as many games as he can in the English top flight after impressing at West Brom last season. He certainly has had a good season even though he has had patches of dips in form it is what you would expect from a young player.

He got a total of 31 starts for Everton this season and came off the bench scoring 16 goals which is a very respectable record of one goal in every 2 starts. The speculation around Lukaku is huge, the media have already decided that Jose does not fancy the young man and that he will not be a Chelsea player next season, given the same was said about Mata and Luiz it may be that they are right with clubs like Dortmund and Atletico Madrid apparently interested and Chelsea seemingly offering him as part of every deal they are doing this summer. Personally I think we should bring back what is undoubtedly the best young striker in world football back to the club next season and let him try and earn his game time.

Nathaniel Chalobah:

On the back of a very impressive loan spell in the Championship last season with Watford big things were still expected from Chalobah but as we have seen time and time again loan moves can slow down a players development. Chalobah started this season at Nottingham Forest and things did not quite go as planned only making 7 starts and 5 sub appearances but still scoring 2 goals and seemingly falling out of favor. It was clear very early on that he would have to move to another club in January and start again. Thankfully he did just that after moving to Middlesbrough and working under Jose's former number 2 Karanka. At Boro Chalobah found himself becoming a regular feature once again making a total of 15 starts and 4 off the bench scoring just one goal sometimes playing in midfield and sometimes in defence which he is equally capable of playing in. It is fair to say that this season has not been as successful as last season was for the 19 year old but as his age shows he has time on his side and next season can go again.

It would have been hoped that a big season in the Championship this season would have set him up to potentially make a loan move in the Premier League next season but that is not very likely now and he will probably have to go again in the Championship or if feeling brave move abroad possibly to Vitesse to show his ability. Either way it is for sure that he will be on loan next season rather than at Chelsea and this stage that is definitely for the best.

In the third and final loan report I will cover the remaining players who have been on loan including the likes of Josh McEachran, Gael Kakuta, Ryan Bertrand and new signing Kurt Zouma.