Chelsea FC loan roundup: December 24, 2012

Winter breaks are starting to arrive in the various leagues around Europe, so these loan roundups are going to start getting a bit shorter. That said, there is certainly a distinct possibility that we start to see a few more youngsters joining the loan report in the coming weeks, as the window to head out re-opens very soon. We do still have a few youngsters playing though, so today we'll look at what they did during the past seven days:

• Romelu Lukaku (West Bromwich Albion): Lukaku was given a start and 85 minutes against Norwich, and in that time he managed to score the winner for WBA with a fantastic headed strike. He talked about how he's enjoying his time at West Brom this week, but I'm not going to rule out the possibility that Chelsea recall him anyway until we hear about the club buying an alternative.

• Yossi Benayoun (West Ham United): Benayoun is still out injured, and did not play again this weekend.
• Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid): Courtois kept yet another clean sheet as Atletico scored a 1-0 victory over the weekend, though Celta Vigo failed to put a single shot on target. They'll go into the new year sitting second in the La Liga table, 9 points and a boatload of goal differential behind Barcelona and 13 points clear of falling out of the Champions League places.

• Michael Essien (Real Madrid): Jose Mourinho started Michael Essien at right back as Real Madrid were beaten 3-2 by Malaga on the weekend. He was just awful in that game, repeatedly being caught out of position and doing little to help going forward. It was very hard to watch, and I hope Mourinho is smart enough to keep him in the midfield going forward.
• Kevin De Bruyne (Werder Bremen): The Bundesliga is off for a bit, so De Bruyne saw no game time.
• Jeffrey Bruma (Hamburger SV): Like De Bruyne, Bruma's club was not in action.
• Milan Lalkovic (Vitoria SC): On break until early January.
• Matej Delac (Vitoria SC): Also on break until early January.
• Tomas Kalas (Vitesse Arnhem): Kalas has an excellent week for Vitesse, playing 180 minutes over that time. He played the full 90 in the 10-1 cup romp this week before looking solid as usual in a 2-1 loss this weekend.
• Patrick van Aanholt (Vitesse Arnhem): PvA was excellent by all reports in the midweek tie, and he was solid on the weekend as well. He played the full match in both contests.
• Gael Kakuta (Vitesse Arnhem): Kakuta started both games for Vitesse this week, but was subbed off early in both games. He had an assist mid-week in the cup tie, and created several wasted chances over the weekend.

• Kenneth Omeruo (ADO Den Haag): It was a good week for Omeruo. First he was included in the provisional squad for the African Cup of Nations, and he followed that up by having one of his better games of the season against NEC Nijmegen.
• Amin Affane (Roda JC): Affane put in a solid shift in Roda's 4-2 victory, although nothing he did really stood out. It's nice to see he's starting more often now.
• Thorgan Hazard (Zulte-Waregem): We took a deeper look at the younger Hazard and his role with Zulte Waregem several days ago, and he was solid again this weekend in a 1-1 draw. He sat a bit deeper than usual on the left flank this weekend, coming off with about 3 minutes to play.
• Josh McEachran (Middlesbrough): Josh put in another solid 90 minute shift as Middlesbrough disappointed in a 2-1 loss to Leeds. His all around game continues to look solid, and he's clearly befitting from regular minutes this season.
• Sam Hutchinson (Nottingham Forest): Hutchinson is back in training with Nottingham Forest, but I'd expect a return to game action to be closer to the new year. It's progress though, so that's something.
• Ben Gordon (Birmingham City): Gordon again failed to make the Birmingham bench, and I can't imagine a scenario where he is not recalled in January.
• Nathaniel Chalobah (Watford): Chalobah was his usual fantastic self for 90 minutes as Watford won 2-0 over the weekend. His loan is due to expire in just over a week, so I'm sure we'll be hearing more about the youngster soon.
• Patrick Bamford (MK Dons): Bamford was again unused this weekend, he's reportedly very close to returning from injury.
• Conor Clifford (Crawley Town): Clifford was not used by Crawley this weekend, he's gotten only 7 minutes thus far on his loan.
• Todd Kane (Preston North End): Kane is struggling to get playing time at Preston, being left out of the squad mid-week before being an unused substitute over the weekend.
• Ulises Davila (CE Sabadell): Davila got another start and played fairly well over the weekend, he'll now have a bit of time off as Sabadell have a short holiday break.
• Sam Walker (Bristol Rovers): Walker didn't play this weekend as weather and a terrible pitch forced Bristol to postpone their match.
• Anjur Osmanovic (Lärje/Angered): Winter break...get used to reading this
• Jhon Pirez (Leganes): The usual.