Chelsea’s ‘loan army’ tradition continued last season – with the club adopting a strategy of outsourcing large numbers of players on temporary deals, with 32 leaving on loan in the last campaign.

That number includes academy graduates looking for regular first-team minutes (Ian Maatsen) to older players with no future at Stamford Bridge looking to maintain their fitness and attract clubs (Danny Drinkwater).

The club sees their loan strategy as a “win-win” situation. If a player impresses at his host club, he can be introduced to Chelsea’s first team and fight for a place in the squad. However, if he does not play at Premier League level but nevertheless attracts attention, the player can be sold to another club and those profits can be reinvested in future transfers.

With this in mind, which players on loan last season performed best in their respective clubs?

Marc Guéhi

Center-back Marc Guehi, 20, has been a Chelsea player since the age of seven and spent last season with Swansea City in the league. Guehi has joined the Swans for the second half of the 2019/20 season, and his impressive form saw that loan extended to cover last season.

Guehi has been a mainstay in a Swansea side that narrowly missed promotion after finishing 4th, appearing in 40 of the 46 league games available, including every minute of the semi-finals and playoff finals. Gehi was appointed Air sports Man of the Match in both rounds of the semi-finals against Barnsley, illustrating his seniority and importance to the team, before the Swans lost to Brentford in the final.

Guehi’s form has garnered constant praise from manager Steve Cooper, who won the Under-17 World Cup with England – a side including Guehi as well as Conor Gallagher and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Cooper said: “He’s athletic, but he can play comfortably with the ball… defensively he’s good and that’s obviously an important characteristic of senior football… Marc has a calming influence and when he’s much older he’ll be a real leader and captain.”

Guehi’s advanced stats also paint a very promising picture for a player who won’t be 21 until July. Geuhi ranks in the top five of the Swansea squad for tackles by 90 (1.6), interceptions by 90 (1.6), clearances by 90 (2.6) and precise passing by 90 ( 36.5). Geuhi put in a superb performance in the home playoff semi-final first leg against Barnsley – winning 100% of his aerial duels, 75% of his ground duels and making seven clearances.

With Swansea losing his promotion, Guehi will likely spend the 2021/22 season on loan with a Premier League side. According to Athleticism, Crystal Palace are interested in a move for the youngster, while Newcastle are said to be monitoring his situation as well. Regardless of where he ends up next season, Guehi hopes to follow in Mason Mount and Reece James’ footsteps and establish himself as a starter at Chelsea in the near future.

Armando Broja

Despite not being 20 for three months, striker Armando Broja has already played six times for the Albanian national team and made his debut for Chelsea in March of last year in the last game before lockdown – 4-0 home win over Everton.

According to Air sports, Chelsea have started contract extension talks with the youngster, with Thomas Tuchel considering involving Broja in the first team next season, given the uncertainty surrounding Tammy Abraham’s future.

Broja had a great season at Vitesse Arnhem in Eredivisie last season Рa club that also hosted Mason Mount, Nemanja Matic and Bertrand Traor̩. Broja has played in 30 of the 34 league games available, missed two in December due to COVID-19.

Broja has scored 10 league goals and two assists, which places him as the top scorer along with Lois Openda in the Vitesse squad, although Broja’s 90 goal rate is higher (0.48 vs. 0.37 ). Broja appeared on the bench often, playing the equivalent of a full 20.7 minutes.

Broja’s goals were integral to Vitesse’s securing 4th place in the league, the club’s best result since 2013 and qualifying for the Europa Conference League. Broja also played a crucial role in the Sprint race to the KNVB Cup Final, scoring in the semi-finals and assisting in the final as Ajax won 2-1.

Broja also proved her versatility with Vitesse, a trait Thomas Tuchel highly appreciates. In Vitesse’s 3-5-2 system, Broja traded both the role of main center forward and support forward. This flexibility is evident in its heat map, covering a lot of ground and impacting areas of attack:

With Broja’s current contract set to expire next summer, the Blue’s are keen to strike a deal for one of Europe’s most exciting teen strikers.

Ike ugbo

22-year-old striker Ike Ugbo’s contract is set to expire this summer as the youngster is linked with moves to Watford and Fulham. This ends a 14-year affiliation with Chelsea, after five different loan periods over four years. Ugbo enjoyed an excellent campaign with Cercle de Bruges in the Belgian Pro League last year, playing the best football of his career and ending the season as Chelsea’s top scorer with 17 goals.

Ugbo has played in every league game for the Cercle, playing the full 90 out of 21 of the 34 available, the most minutes in the Cercle Brugge team in total. Ugbo finished the Cercle team’s top scorer by 11 goals and fifth overall in the league.

Ugbo also ranked first on the Circle team in shots by 90 (1.8), shots on target by 90 (0.7) and his goal every 171 minutes is only behind Kevin Denkey. , who only started one game.

Ugbo has played in a multitude of different systems last season, operating as the sole striker in a 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 in the majority of games, as well as a two forwards in a 3-5- Configuration 2 and 4-4-2 sometimes. Ugbo also developed a talent for scoring braces, conceding two in one game on four different occasions.

It is this form that has enabled Ugbo to team up with leading European teams such as AS Monaco and Eintracht Frankfurt in recent weeks. Still relatively young, Ugbo has an exciting future wherever he decides to move and will have the support of Chelsea fans at his next club.

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