Journalist Paul Brown has assessed the difficulties of being a player sent out on loan by Chelsea.
What has Brown said about Chelsea's loan policy?
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Brown outlined how the Blues have astonishing strength in depth in their squad, and this leads to a host of players being loaned out every season. He then pointed out that the club also have phenomenal spending power, which makes it difficult for loan stars to come back in and make an impact at Stamford Bridge.
When referring to the issue, Brown said: “It’s frightening. They can send three teams’ worth of players out on loan every season. They’re just a factory, aren’t they? Unfortunately, as good as some of them look when they’re out on loan, they might ultimately never really get a chance at the club because a manager comes in and wants a £30m, £40m, £50m player in that position.
“And I’m pretty sure there have been times when managers of Chelsea have barely even heard of some of the people they’ve got out on loan pulling up trees. So, it’s a very hard position for some of those people to be in.”
Have any loan players made the cut at Chelsea in recent years?
There is no doubt that many of Chelsea's loan players have fallen by the wayside over the years, and either been continuously offloaded on a temporary basis, or eventually moved on permanently. However, a couple of the side's current squad have made the most of their loan spells, and have returned to establish themselves in the first-team.
Mason Mount gained invaluable experience at Vitesse Arnhem and Derby County prior to settling back into Chelsea's team in 2019. He has since gone from strength to strength, and was named the club's Player of the Year in May.
Reece James is another example of a player who dropped down to the Championship with Wigan Athletic in the 2018/19 season, but is now flourishing under Thomas Tuchel, and has eight international caps to his name for England.
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Who could be the next loanees to get back into Chelsea's squad?
Chelsea's current loanees will have seen the rise of Mount and James over the last couple of seasons, and may use this as inspiration to force their way back into the side's plans in the future.
Conor Gallagher appears to be a young talent with the ability to make the grade. He joined Crystal Palace for the season back in July, and the midfielder has already been directly involved in three goals in his first four league appearances for the south London club.
Meanwhile, Billy Gilmour may also fancy his chances of having a successful career at Chelsea once his loan spell at Norwich is over. The 20-year-old was a standout performer in this summer's Euros for Scotland when they took on England at Wembley, and displays like that indicate that he is not fazed by the big occasion, and could see him make his mark at Chelsea further down the line.