15 players out on loan 

©TM/IMAGO

Although Chelsea only spent €15 million on new players in January,  they did more business than most Premier League clubs over the course of the transfer window Alongside the sale of Cesare Casadei to Torino for €13 million, the club also sanctioned the departure of no less than six players on loan to other clubs, earning an impressive €18m in up-front fees as part of the deals. That means that the number of players on Chelsea’s books but currently playing for other clubs around Europe stands at a remarkable 15. And when it comes to comparisons to their Premier League rivals, the Stamford Bridge club are in a league of their own. 

Indeed, when we tally up the combined market value of every player that Chelsea have sent out on loan this season it comes to an impressive sum of €248m. That’s largely down to a number of high-profile players being deemed surplus to requirement by Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca and have subsequently departed the club. The most notable examples of that are Axel Disasi (market value: €30m) joining Aston Villa, João Félix (€30m) departing for AC Milan or midfield trio Lesley Ugochukwu (€25m), Andrey Santos (€25m) and Carney Chukwuemeka (€15m) all learning their trade elsewhere this season. And, as we can see in the graphic above, Chelsea have so many players out on loan this season, that it’s relatively easy to make an impressive starting XI of the disregarded players. 

The sheer scale of Chelsea’s loan army is not only impressive but also unrivalled among their Premier League rivals. As we can see in the table above, the Stamford Bridge side’s list of loaned players enjoy a market value that is more than twice that of the next highest club, which happens to be Manchester United with €122m worth of players out on loan this season. Coincidentally, one of the players that the Old Trafford club opted to discard this season was none other than Jadon Sancho, who has worked his way into Maresca’s first team plans this season. Following on from the Red Devils are their cross-city rivals Manchester City, who have €99m worth of talent out on loan this season, followed by Arsenal (€87m), Liverpool (€74m) and then Tottenham (€62m). 

Whether any of these loaned out players will ever become first team stars for the club that pays their wages remains to be seen. In many cases, such as Félix, Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Kepa Arrizabalaga, they are simply senior players that have yet to find the right club willing to sign them permanently. But on the other hand, young stars like the aforementioned midfield trio of Santos, Chukwuemeka and Ugochukwu, there may still be time for each player to prove their worth on loan this season and return to Stamford Bridge ready to fight for a first-team spot next season. Either way, it’s clear that Chelsea’s loan army remains unrivalled in the Premier League in scale and scope.