Clubs’ use of the loan system is more prominent than ever in modern football, with it now even having its own window dedicated to allowing teams to make emergency temporary signings for whatever reason. This particular type of transfer can have many uses, and as such is often exploited in many different ways. What my issue with it all is, is that should excessive loans coming into one club be allowed all at once?
Loans are often used by clubs to allow younger players to gain experience playing with senior players before they make the leap to the first-team at their parent club. Of course, some players like Lionel Messi do not need this aid, but it can be a massive benefit for the loanee to gain them some senior match experience which helps them in their development. However, senior players can often make a loan switch for whatever reason, even at the highest level; this can be to gain more playing time, or simply in an emergency when the club loaning in has an injury crisis.
In more recent years, loopholes in the system are regularly being exploited, and for some teams, their squad is majorly comprised of loan players, and this has caused some discomfort amongst football fans, who believe that it gives some teams an unfair advantage over others in the race for promotion or silverware, depending on the competition.
Watford, owned by the Italian Pozzo family, are a prime example of this system being played. By virtue of sharing mutual owners with Italian club Udinese, 10 players made the temporary switch from the Stadio Friuli to Vicarage Road last season, and helped the Hornets massively on their way to third-place in the Championship; they got to the play-off final against what was Ian Holloway’s Crystal Palace at Wembley, and lost after extra-time thanks to a penalty from the veteran former Sunderland man Kevin Philips.
Because of their performance in England’s second tier last season, many of the players who were on load with the Hertfordshire club have now either come back to Vicarage Road again, or made other moves to elsewhere in Europe after proving their credentials in Watford’s fight for promotion. Take the Czech international striker Matěj Vydra as an example. The 21-year-old scored 20 league goals for Watford in last year’s campaign, in 41 league games. This is not a bad rate at all for someone’s first season in England. The Czech Republic man completed a loan switch from Udinese to Premier League side West Bromwich Albion in the summer, but is yet to impress in the Baggies team.
Watford’s serial loaning last season caused a huge stir, particularly in the Championship. Football League rules at the time stated no more than five loanees could be in any one match-day squad, and that a team could make no more than two standard loans from any other team as well. The Hornets got around this because of the amount of foreign loans made; this is because foreign loans are seen as transfers, not as loans, meaning that Watford were costless to temporarily bring as many players over from Serie A as they liked, as well as some from La Liga side Granada, and play as many of them at a time as they wanted.
This hole in the rules has now been closed after a majority of people complained about the way Watford conducted their business in the transfer market, but it has left a bitter taste in the mouth of people who were on the wrong end of players such as Vydra and Marco Cassetti in the team that was managed by Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola at the time. Ian Holloway described the way Watford signed so many foreign loan players as “ludicrous” in an interview during Crystal Palace’s promotion quest last season. Not only did this anger fans and officials, but I felt it hindered the development of talents from closer to home like the Irishman Sean Murray, who is thought highly of at the Hornets.
On the plus side, this was an isolated case, and not something that we see on any sort of regular basis – well, not in England at the very least. The Eredivisie’s Vitesse Arnhem has become a feeder club of sorts for Chelsea in recent seasons, with many young players spending time with Vitas before trying to break in at Stamford Bridge. There are currently 7 Blues players on loan at the GelreDome, including former Porto winger Christian Atsu and Brazilian youngster Lucas Piazón – some of Chelsea’s finest young attacking talent. There is arguments to be had to say this is both unfair on the other Eredivisie clubs yet good because it gives the youngsters a chance to experience a more competitive competition at an early stage of their career.
Even top clubs can be seen to be using the loan system when they can now, as it is often cheaper than buying players out-right. Roberto Martinez’s Everton have now got several quality players in their ranks on loan, and these have helped the Toffees to a respectable fifth place so far this season, ahead of the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Romelu Lukaku, signed from Chelsea on deadline day for a season, has been the loanee to receive most praise for his effect on Merseyside, but Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry has also been praised, particularly by his new set of supporters. Gerard Deulofeu, of Barcelona, is one who I feel has not got due recognition for his part in his new club’s successes this season, and coming through at the Catalan club obviously shows the quality of the young star.
So, going back to my original question, should excessive loaning be allowed? Despite football’s governing bodies having their flaws at times, I do think that they do keep on top of issues such as this, hence why the loophole that Watford used was quickly snapped shut earlier this year. However, if in the near future another club does find another loophole, I think it shouldn’t just be closed, I think the club should be punished. Whilst they may have technically not broken the rules, they still have been a tad impertinent in their transfer dealings, and as such should be given a fine as a slap on the wrist and a warning not to do it again.
In general though, an excessive amount of loans should not, in my opinion, be allowed. It gives teams an unfair advantage over others in the same competition who are unable to compete at the same level. It also slows down the development of young home-grown players, like Sean Murray, who I mentioned earlier in the case of Watford, and can cause agitation amongst a lot of rival fans and officials. For those reasons, the Football Association should pay a lot of attention to the rules they have in place regarding the temporary loan system.
