Chelsea FC loan roundup: Time for a break

The loanees were again in action this weekend, although several of them will now be in line for some time off. The Bundesliga, Eredivise, and La Liga are all set for their winter breaks now, so Courtois, Kalas, Davilla, and Bruma will all now join Matej Delac on the shelf until 2012. Couple that with the expected recall of our Premier League loanees and we should be looking at some smaller loan roundups for a while. This week I've got quite a bit for you though, so here we go.

• Patrick van Aanholt - PvA was ineligible to participate this weekend as Wigan hosted his parent club. I'd imagine we've seen the last of PvA in a Lactics uniform, but with three games between now and the new year there is always a chance we see him on the pitch again. I don't see any reason to believe he will not be recalled on January 1st.
• Gael Kakuta - Kakuta's deal expires on the first, and it doesn't sound like there is any chance it will be extended. He was left off the matchday squad this weekend as well, and I'd be surprised to see him much in the next several weeks as Owen Coyle tries to find any combination that might help keep Bolton up to employ in the second half.
• Conor Clifford - Clifford seems to have settled in nicely at Yeovil, and again played for an hour before being subbed off in a draw with Rochdale. Clifford was very lively and again created several chances, I'm not exactly sure why they continue to make so many substitutions in the midfield. There's not much to complain about though, he's been playing regularly and has been playing very well. He'll be one of the few remaining in action in the upcoming weeks.

• Tomas Kalas - Kalas has been a mainstay for Vitesse and again played the full 90 in a clean sheet victory. As usual, Kalas was very solid in the win. The victory sees Vitesse head to the winter break in sixth and only 4 points out of third. Young Tomas needs to rest up, he'll likely continue to play every match as Vitesse makes a serious run at the Champions League for next season.
• Ulises Davila - Davila has not been featuring much for Vitesse, but again was fairly solid for their reserve side this week. I wouldn't be overly surprised to see him get more action come the second half as I'm sure that Vitesse will be seeing several clubs making approaches about some of their young attacking talent and Bony Wilfried will certainly be taking part in the ACoN.
• Jeffrey Bruma - Like Kalas, Bruma again played the full 90 for Hamburg over the weekend. HSV extended their unbeaten streak to eleven with the draw and enters the winter break in thirteenth. Considering that two months ago they seemed a lock to be relegated, they appear to be in good shape at the moment. Hamburg seems like it may be an excellent fit for both PvA and Gael Kakuta to try to actually get some pitch time in the second half, although who knows what the plan for those two may be.
• Sam Walker - Walker was part of yet another loss, but it's again hard to find too much fault in either of the goals that got by him. Northampton's defense is an unmitigated disaster at this point but there doesn't seem to be any question that Walker is the first choice keeper. His contract is set to expire in June, so I'd expect to start hearing a bit about that situation in the next several weeks.
• Thibaut Courtois - Courtois was also an the wrong side of a 2-0 loss this weekend, and like Walker it's hard to fault him too much for the goals that got by. Like Northampton, the Atletico defense is a bit of a shambles at the moment. All in all it's been a solid first half for Courtois both domestically and in Europe, hopefully Atletico will get some of their defensive issues sorted out over the break.

Depending on who actually gets into action around Christmas it may be a bit before you see another full loan roundup. We'll keep you posted on any changes to these situations as the news becomes available, and hopefully the players who can't find the pitch get placed into better situations as soon as possible.