Lucas Piazon Says Chelsea Career Is over After Latest Loan Move
September 10, 2019
Chelsea forward Lucas Piazon, who is currently on loan at Primeira Liga side Rio Ave, has said he believes his Blues career is over, and he's tired of the continuous loan cycle he's been in for years.
The Brazilian spoke to A Bola (h/t Football.london's Alan Smith) a week after he was sent on his seventh loan spell since joining Chelsea:
"My time at Chelsea is over. I'm 25, I've been on loan several times.
"I've been at Chelsea since 2011, I've been on loan almost all over Europe. I'm tired of playing here and there, I need a place where I can feel at home. I want to know that in July I will return to the same place, to the same house.
"I'd have a good season on loan, but I'd come back and was soon loaned again. There was no point in going out on loan, playing well, coming back, not being used and being loaned again.
"There comes a time in your career that makes no sense anymore. By the way, I said exactly that three years ago and it didn't go so well at Chelsea, it generated some discomfort."
According to sports writer Oliver Harbord, he signed a new contract earlier this month:
Now 25 years old, Piazon has spent time with Malaga, Vitesse, Eintracht Frankfurt, Reading, Fulham, Chievo and now Rio Ave, while barely featuring for his parent club.
He will spend the next two seasons with Rio Ave. Per Smith, he wanted to leave the Blues on a free transfer this summer, but was not allowed to and instead signed the new deal to facilitate another loan.
He's currently the club's longest-serving senior player, despite making just a single Premier League appearance. He missed a penalty in an 8-0 drubbing of Aston Villa in the 2012-13 campaign.
Piazon was once considered a top talent, playing as a versatile winger and attacking midfielder for Brazil's youth squads. He has flashed considerable upside during some of his loan spells, most notably with Vitesse and Eintracht Frankfurt.
This free-kick in the Bundesliga was one of his top career highlights:
He hasn't shown nearly enough to warrant a bigger role at Stamford Bridge, however. Despite the team's transfer ban this summer, they opted not to give him another chance to prove his worth for the Blues.
Rio Ave are a midtable club in Portugal, finishing last season in seventh place in the Liga NOS.