5 worst loan signings in the Premier League

English side Chelsea have signed Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain on loan for the remainder of the season with an option to buy him for €36m (£31.3m). According to reports, Chelsea has signed Higuain to replace Spanish Striker Alvaro Morata, who has been a major flop since the time he arrived in England. Higuain brings a lot of experience with him at the top level. Having played under Sarri before, the blues will be hoping that Higuain hits the ground running from the word go.

In recent times, English Premier League clubs have signed many high profile players on loan from different clubs. A club generally makes a loan signing in a case where they are not ready to pay the full transfer amount for the player or the parent club does not want to sell the player on a permanent basis.

Many clubs have learned it the hard way that loan moves don't always go according to plan. It can turn into a disaster for both the club and the player.

Here is the list of 4 major loan signings that turned out to be a disaster in the Premier League

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#5 Simone Zaza (Juventus-West ham, 2016)

West Ham United v Sunderland - Premier League

At the start of the 2016-2017 season of the Premier League, West Ham signed Zaza on loan from Juventus for a fee of £5m with the deal automatically becoming a long-term one, at a cost of a further £20m, if he made a set number of Premier League appearances for the club. Zaza's time at West Ham turned out to be a disaster as he failed to score even a single goal in the 11 appearances he made for the club. In the latter stages of his loan spell, Zaza even failed to make the matchday squad for the Hammers. The players and supporters of the club even started questioning Zaza's attitude towards the club. In the January transfer window, West Ham decided to cut short his loan and, he was sent back to Juventus. Zaza went on to sign for Valencia in 2017 and is currently playing at Torino, on loan from Valencia.

#4 Alexandre Pato (Corinthians-Chelsea, 2016)

Pato struggled to make an impact at Chelsea

Pato arrived at Chelsea on loan from Corinthians in the 2016 January transfer window with Diego Costa, Loic Remy, and Radamel Falcao all struggling with injuries. The Brazilian struggled with fitness issues and made only two first-team appearances under interim manager Guus Hiddink. In his time at Chelsea, Pato managed to score just one goal. The Brazilian won the Golden Boy award in the year 2009 and was considered one of the biggest talents in Brazil. Pato failed to have any sort of impact in his time at Chelsea and was sent back to his parent club at the end of the 2016 season.

After leaving Chelsea, Pato signed permanently for Villarreal, playing 24 games and scoring six goals before leaving the club midway through the 2016/17 season to join Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian for whom he still plays.

#3 Grant Holt (Wigan – Aston Villa, 2014)

Manager Paul Lambert identified Grant Holt as the man who could help Aston Villa reach safety in the Premier League. Holt had only scored 2 league goals before joining Villa on loan. Lambert thought that Holt would be the answer to Villa's lack of goals and brought him to the West Midlands from Wigan in January 2014.

But the striker failed to deliver for the club and only scored twice in 10 games as Villa slipped further down the table. Holt failed to have any impact at the club and was sent back to his parent club at the end of the season. Many supporters and Pundits questioned Paul Lambert's decision to sign an aging striker to save the club from relegation. The move not only hampered Holt's career but also resulted in Aston Villa slipping further down in the relegation battle.

Moving to Villa was the biggest move of Holt's career and one cannot really blame him for not scoring much for an already struggling Villa. Holt went back to his parent club Wigan Athletic and then joined Huddersfield Town on loan, 6 months later.

#2 Jese Rodriguez (PSG-Stoke, 2017)

Stoke City v Brighton and Hove Albion - Premier League

Jese Rodriguez joined Stoke City on loan from PSG in the summer of 2017. The Spanish striker was one of the most highly rated players in Spain when he came out of Real Madrid's academy and played for the first team in 2013.

His Stoke career got off to a bright start as he scored the winner against Arsenal in August, but that proved the only moment of impact in a disastrous transfer. Jese joined Stoke on loan from Paris Saint-Germain at an overall cost of £6.75 million.

During his team at Stoke, Jese also went through personal problems due to which he had to travel to Spain regularly. In the latter stages of his loan move, Jese could not even turn up for training which left the club frustrated. According to the agreement with PSG, Stoke agreed to pay half of his £130,000-per-week salary.

Rodriguez went AWOL after being granted compassionate leave in April, and in May 2018, Stoke confirmed that he will not appear for the club again. Thus ending a miserable loan spell at the club.

#1 Radamel Falcao (Monaco – Man Utd, 2014/15, Monaco – Chelsea, 2015/16)

Falcao was one of the world's most feared strikers during his time with Porto and Atletico Madrid. He scored 142 goals in four seasons, but after his move to Monaco, he suffered a severe anterior cruciate ligament injury. It took a long time for him to recover from such a major injury. He also missed the 2014 FIFA World Cup for Columbia through injury.

The Colombian was still properly recovering from the injury when Manchester United made a dramatic move to sign him on deadline day in 2014, but the striker scored just four times for Louis van Gaal’s side and also ended up playing for the reserves

At the end of the season, Chelsea stepped in to take Falcao on loan ahead of the 2015/16 campaign. He made just the one start for the Blues. He also suffered many injuries at his time in Chelsea and could not cement his place as a starter. He scored just one goal for the London side and was sent back to Monaco at the end of the season.

Edited by Ananthu Anil