5 players who have endured torrid loan spells in 2020/21

#3 Michy Batshuayi to Crystal Palace

Burnley v Crystal Palace - Premier League

The 27-year-old Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi is someone who has showed a lot of promise in the past but has continually failed to deliver on it. He has impressed in parts for Chelsea but he has never really looked like a dependable no.9 who can be relied on for the entirety of a season.

Batshuayi was farmed out to fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace at the start of the season. This is Batshuayi's second spell on loan at Crystal Palace. Roy Hodgson has been desperate to find a striker who can share the responsibility of scoring goals with Wilfried Zaha but Batshuayi has not cut it.

Michy Batshuayi has started just four Premier League games this season and has come off the bench seven times. He is yet to even break his duck and has just one assist to his name. The way things are going, he is almost certain to be sold in the summer by Chelsea.

#2 Takefusa Kubo to Villarreal

Villarreal CF v Elche CF - La Liga Santander

Real Madrid youngster Takefusa Kubo's loan move to Villarreal did not work for any of the parties involved. Kubo started just two games for Villarreal in La Liga and failed to do anything of note for Unai Emery's men. He was mainly used as a substitute and came off the bench on 11 occasions.

However, he showed his quality in the Europa League, scoring once and assisting three goals from across five appearances. However, Villarreal decided to cut short his loan spell and sent him back to Real Madrid earlier this month.

He has since moved to Getafe and Real Madrid and the player himself will be hoping that the latter half of his season will be quite a departure from the first.

Takefusa Kubo hopes he gets more playing time now that he moved to Getafe on another loan deal."I’m young and need more playing time, and want to feel like I’m a soccer player." pic.twitter.com/DdSUe6cnmC

— SBOTOP (@sbotopofcl) January 19, 2021

#1 Gareth Bale to Tottenham Hotspur

Marine v Tottenham Hotspur - FA Cup Third Round

Quite characteristically, Gareth Bale started his loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur injured. His much-awaited return to North London and to the club where he first became a superstar is now spiralling into embarrassing lows as the Welshman struggles to make any sort of impact for Jose Mourinho's side.

Demoted to the role of a starter in the Europa League, Bale has just one goal from six appearances. The 31-year-old has played just four games in the Premier League so far this season and has started only one of those. He has a single goal to show for it.

Though there were apprehensions initially about how his return would work out, there was a sense of optimism about his joining Tottenham. However, it has been quite a torrid loan spell on all counts and one that Spurs would have liked to undo if they could go back in time.

Gareth Bale has started two league games in the past 11 months:One for Real Madrid, one for Tottenham 😳 pic.twitter.com/HIUS6viFCP

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 17, 2021