After spending nine-and-a-half years at one club, you probably expect to be a bit of legend. Especially these days when loyalty is few and far between.

But we don’t think Chelsea will be building a statue of Lucas Piazon anytime soon.

The Brazilian has finally left Stamford Bridge after almost a decade. In that time he made three first-team appearances and had seven loan spells.

He has now joined Braga on a four-year deal.

But it probably shouldn’t surprise us that this has happened at Chelsea.

The Blues love signing players, loaning them out for years and then either keeping them if they’re good enough or sell them to make big profit.

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It’s a strategy they’ve used in the past and it’s served them well.

But with Piazon leaving the club, Marca have looked at the other eight players the club signed around the same time in the hope they would ‘take over the world.’

What happened to the 'Piazon generation’?

Kevin De Bruyne

Chelsea signed De Bruyne from Genk in January 2012 for around £7 million but returned to Belgium for the rest of the campaign. He spent the following season on loan at Werder Bremen but couldn’t get a game back at Chelsea upon his return. He was soon sold to Wolfsburg for £18 million. Chelsea were probably satisfied with their £11 million profit on a player who featured three times in the Premier League for them. They probably didn’t expect him to become the best midfielder in world football at a rival club.

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Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea signed Lukuku in the summer of 2011 from Anderlecht for around £17 million. Again, the club decided to send him out on loan as he impressed at both West Brom and Everton. Despite that, he only played 15 times for Chelsea before they sold him for £28 million to Everton. Again, the club were probably happy with £11 million profit but probably didn’t expect Lukaku to become the player he is today.

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Thorgan Hazard

Chelsea signed Eden’s brother from Lille in 2012 but never gave him much of an opportunity as they sent him on loan to Zulte Waregem in Belgium and Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany. He then signed permanently for the German club for £5.9 million, 16 times as much as Chelsea paid for him having never played for the west London club. He’s now at Borussia Dortmund after making the £20 million move in 2019.

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Thibaut Courtois

Another player Chelsea signed for Genk, spending £7 million on the goalkeeper in 2011. He bizarrely spent three seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid before Chelsea decided he was ready to be the club’s No.1. Four seasons in between the sticks at the club were enough to see his transfer value rise considerably as they sold him to Real Madrid for £31 million.

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Wallace Oliveira

Wallace never managed a game for Chelsea as he was loaned out to the likes of Inter Milan, Vitesse, Carpi and Gremio whilst at the club. He was then released by the cub and returned to his boyhood club, Fluminense.

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Ulises Davila

Chelsea clearly had high hopes for Davila, who signed a five-year deal from Guadalajara. What followed were a host of loan spells to Vitesse, Sabadell, Cordoba, Tenerife and Vitoria. After deciding the midfielder wasn’t good enough, Chelsea allowed him to return to Mexico on a permanent basis as he joined Santos Laguna. He’s now at Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand.

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Kenneth Omeruo

Chelsea signed Omeruo from Standard Liege in 2012 but immediately loaned him to ADO Den Haag. He then spent two years at Middlesborough before spells in Turkey with Kasımpaşa, Alanyaspor and Kasımpaşa again. Another loan spell at Leganés followed before Chelsea finally decided he didn’t have a future at the club after seven years. He then signed on a permanent deal to Leganes.

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Patrick Bamford

Chelsea bought Bamford from Nottingham Forest for £1.5 million in 2012 before loaning him to a host of English clubs. The striker went from MK Dons, to Derby, to Middlesbrough, to Crystal Palace, to Norwich and to Burnley before he eventually signed for ‘Boro for £5.5 million in 2017. He’s now in the Premier League with Leeds.

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