Young Chelsea forward heads to Spain on ninth senior loan move

Joao Rodriguez may only be 22 as measured in Earthly years, but as measured in terms of loan moves, he’s already lived a long, long life.

But, he’s still going strong in that regard, finding a new (temporary) home at Segunda Division side, Tenerife. It’s his ninth loan move, since signing with Chelsea in 2013.

Rodriguez arrived from Deportivo Quindio as a 16-year-old, and was immediately loaned back to the Colombian top division side. Since then, he’s joined eight different teams, including Uniautónoma in his home country and SC Bastia under the tutelage of Claude Makelele. Other stops included Vitoria de Setubal in Portugal, STVV in Belgium, and a couple more Colombian sides in Santa Fe and Cortuluá. Most of these were wholly unremarkable and brief stays.

That trend changed last season as Rodriguez joined Mexican second division side Tampico Madero, where he got actual, real minutes on the pitch, and rewarded that faith by scoring 8 times in 22 appearances and spearheading Tampico’s promotion challenge. His good form in Mexico has earned him a move back to Europe, where he’ll hopefully keep the momentum going and show why he was signed by Chelsea in the first place.

Good luck, J-Rod!