Chelsea Transfer News: Lucas Piazon Questions Loan Policy After Fifth Blues Exit

Chelsea midfielder Lucas Piazon has questioned the logic behind the Blues’ mass loan policy after being sent on his fifth temporary stint away from Stamford Bridge. 

Piazon moved to Championship side Fulham for a season before the transfer deadline, following on from spells at Reading, Eintracht Frankfurt, Vitesse Arnhem and Malaga.

The Brazilian’s development has stalled in that time, and he has spoken of how difficult it is to build momentum under such inconsistent surroundings, per Matt Barlow of the Daily Mail:

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It makes no sense to go on loan all the time. It is not good for any player in my experience—or the experience of the other boys. I don't see it as a positive thing any more. To be in a different place every year is not good for me at 22.

It's difficult to get a place in the team. They have their own players. You do your best, try to get a place in the squad, minutes on the pitch, score and create goals. That's all you can do.

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Piazon arrived at Chelsea from Sao Paolo in 2011 and was rated as one of the best teenage prospects in world football. However, he has only made three appearances for the Blues senior side, and, aside from his spell with Vitesse, he has failed to show his best form away from the club.

The forward is not the only Chelsea man who is out on loan, though, with a whopping 38 players temporarily shipped out to other clubs by the Blues.

This clip from Bleacher Report UK named them all and broke down where the mass of loan stars will be playing their football next season:

While a year away from the parent club can help a player learn about new experiences, get minutes under their belt and mature, the pitfalls of the system being used over a prolonged spell are epitomised by Piazon’s stalled development.

Pete Norton/Getty Images

There have been glimpses of the player’s raw talent during his time in England; he has wonderful balance, can run past defenders with ease and possesses an elegant left foot. But at 22, the Brazil youth international is getting to an age where he needs to find a regular home.

“I have to find a club I can call home,” said Piazon. “One, two, three loans, maybe that's enough. It's time for me to stay somewhere more than one year. When they know you'll stay whatever happens, people look at you with different eyes.”

Chelsea are often criticised for their loan policy, and it’s not an ethos that has seen too many players make the step up into the first team. Indeed, it would be no surprise to see Piazon follow in the footsteps of players such as Josh McEachran, who saw his raw talent hampered by multiple stints away from the Blues.

Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

However, Chelsea will point to the progress of players such as Victor Moses, who spent the last three years out on loan, as benefactors of the system. The winger is part of manager Antonio Conte’s squad for the upcoming term and scored in the recent 3-0 win over Burnley.

As noted by OptaJoe, his development and reintegration into the Blues team has taken a while:

Indeed, last year Chelsea’s technical director Michael Emenalo used Moses as an example to defend their loan policy. 

“Sometimes we know there are players whose development is not finished, just like [Moses], who we want to keep with our squad but who maybe needs to play more football to get to the level we think he can get to, because he is very, very talented,” he told Chelsea TV (h/t BBC Sport).

If Piazon lights up the Championship at Craven Cottage this term, Chelsea may well decide to give him a chance in the first team, as they’ve done with Moses.

Nevertheless, success stories from this system of shipping out an army of players are scarce and that’s something the Brazilian will surely consider when pondering his future prospects.