Chelsea serial loanee tired of the serial loanee life: ‘It makes no sense to go on loan all the time’

This season, Chelsea have 38 players on loan across England and Europe (and one in Brazil, even), by far the most of any English club. We haven't yet reached the numbers of Atalanta or Juventus yet (near 50 for each), and are a far cry from Parma's figures (70+) back in 2014. But in England, Chelsea are toppping the charts once again, just as we have for some time now.

Unsurprisingly, the club’s loan policy remains a point of contention, from fans to pundits to players alike, especially for serial loanees such as Lucas Piazon, who’s on his fifth loan in the last five seasons. At some point, players do get tired of the loan life, and Piazon had already voiced such concerns two years ago, when he was at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Piazon recently spoke to the Daily Mail about the loanee life and how he, just as many have before him and many more will after him, is ready for a bit of stability.

"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."

"I had a great time at Vitesse Arnhem and that helped. The Dutch league is all about playing football. They don't defend like crazy. We had a great squad, playing great football and it was so easy to score or make assists."

"Then I moved to Germany [to play for Eintracht Frankfurt,] where you have to run 12km or 13km in every game. After the first game I lay on the pitch, almost dead. I've learned it takes time to adapt and maybe with two or three years in Germany I could have made a better impact."

"I'm tired of moving abroad. 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. If I had the chance to go for more than one season I'd do it."

Chelsea seem to be learning in this regard, and are allowing players to stay at clubs for multiple years (e.g. Andreas Christensen, Charly Musonda and Lewis Baker) though these arrangements have their own set of quirks and concerns as well.

Piazon’s current loan is only for the first half of the season and despite of his feelings towards Chelsea's loan policy, he still hopes to fulfill his objective and play in our first team. But if that's not possible, he's open to another move — preferably a more permanent, long-term one.

"I still want to make it at Chelsea, of course. I came to Europe to play for Chelsea and want to do it. Maybe I can come back in the future. If that's not possible I want to go somewhere and stay for more than one season. Not just stay stuck in the club."

-Lucas Piazon; Source: Daily Mail