Top 10 loan performers across Europe this season

For a footballer, going out on loan can be very difficult because that puts a question mark on their future at the club. Usually, players are sent out on loan for two reasons. First, they are not good enough to represent their parent club or they are sent out on loan to gain valuable experience and return to the parent club as an improved and efficient player.Even in the second case, the pressure on the players to perform and impress their original club is huge. Moreover, sometimes the club at which the player is on loan tend to prefer their own players ahead of loanees.Nevertheless, in the past many players have gone out on loan to other clubs and come back as a completely different player. For example, before Real Madrid’s German midfielder Toni Kroos became a star at Bayern Munich, he was sent on loan to Bayer Leverkusen. Kroos was very impressive during his loan spell and eventually made his way into the German squad for the 2010 World Cup before returning to Bayern Munich.So here are 10 players who are on loan this season and are performing well for their current clubs:

#1 Ryan Bertrand (Southampton, previously on loan from Chelsea)

It is very hard to recollect the last time a Chelsea academy player broke into the first team since the beginning of the Abramovich era, but Ryan Bertrand came close to doing it as he played a part in Chelsea’s back to back European triumphs.

Bertrand was thought to be excess to requirements under Jose Mourinho and therefore he moved to Southampton on loan, which was his seventh and the last loan spell from Chelsea.

Southampton took Bertrand in to fill in the void left by Luke Shaw and he did justice to the faith put in him by Ronald Koeman. The England International is one of the best left-backs in the league at present, based on performance and form and has been an integral part of the Southampton defense, which has conceded the fewest number of goals in the Premier League.

Towards the end of the winter transfer window, Southampton agreed a permanent deal with Chelsea for Bertrand after his impressive performance while on loan.

#2 Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Monchengladbach, on loan from Chelsea)

Thorgan is the younger brother of Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, but unlike his elder brother, Thorgan hasn’t been able to break into Chelsea’s first team and has so far lived in the shadows of Eden.

Like his brother Eden, Thorgan joined Chelsea in 2012 but spent the last two seasons on loan at Zulte Waregem and this season was again sent on loan to German club Borussia Monchengladbach.

During the first half of the current season, Thorgan’s appearances were mainly off the bench or in the Europa League and Cup matches, due to the form and performance of other players in the side. Despite the stiff competition, he slowly won over the faith of his manager and has now started five league games for the club in addition to his 13 substitute appearances.

Altogether, after 11 starts and 15 substitute appearances in all competitions, Thorgan has two goals and seven assists to his name and because of his impressive performances so far, it is rumoured that Monchengladbach are interested in bringing him permanently to the club next season.

#3 Alex Song (West Ham, on loan from Barcelona)

Back in 2012, when Alex Song completed a move to Barcelona, not many would have imagined that two years later the Cameroonian would return to the Premier League with West Ham.

Song struggled to break into the Barcelona squad due to the presence of Sergio Busquets and once Luis Enrique took charge of the Catalans, the former Arsenal man was discarded from his first team plans.

It took Song a while to get going due to the lack of match practice, but the last two-three months have seen him produce performances that we were used to seeing when he was at Arsenal, especially those nicely-weighted through balls to free the attackers. The 27-year-old performances are one of the reasons why West Ham have had an amazing season so far.

West Ham though, do not have an option to purchase Song at the end of the loan deal and hence there will be a dogfight for his signature in the coming summer.

#4 Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal, on loan from Real Madrid)

Cheryshev is the son of former Russian International, Dmitri Cheryshev and he started his career with Sporting Gijon, where his father was playing at that time. The Russian joined Real Madrid’s youth set-up in 2002 and eventually played for their Castilla from 2009 to 2013 before going on loan to Sevilla last season.

After a failed loan deal at Sevilla, he joined Villarreal for the current campaign with the Yellow Submarines having an option to purchase the 24-year-old winger at the end of the season.

He took the opportunity that was presented to him with both hands and has been in terrific form this season. Currently, after 22 starts and nine substitute appearances for Villarreal in all competitions, Cheryshev has seven goals and 10 assists to his name and his nine assists in the league put him third in the table, only behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

#5 Nani (Sporting CP, on loan from Manchester United)

There was a time when Nani’s statistics were better than Cristiano Ronaldo’s were at the same age, but he couldn’t emulate his compatriot’s feats with Manchester United and his career went downhill in the last couple of seasons.

The Portuguese international was loaned out to his former club Sporting CP for the current season and that has helped the 28-year-old find his feet again.

Nani has been decent for Sporting in the league games, with three goals and one more in the domestic cup, but he was very impressive in their Champions League games. The pacy winger scored four goals and provided two assists in the Champions League though his performances couldn’t prevent the club getting knocked out to the Europa League.

Even though Nani is on loan at Sporting, his parent club Manchester United are paying his hefty wage, and this makes it obvious that Sporting may not be able to afford Nani once the loan deal expires. Under these circumstances, it will be interesting to see if the Portuguese winger has a future at Manchester United next season.

#6 Casemiro (FC Porto, on loan from Real Madrid)

The talented midfielder was already a Brazilian International before he joined Real Madrid last season. The youngster couldn’t break into the Real Madrid starting 11 due to the presence of players like Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric, Sami Khedira and Asier Illaramendi, and therefore was sent on loan to Porto for the current season to gain valuable experience.

The 22-year-old quickly adjusted to his new club, nailing a regular starting berth in midfield and has played 18 times for Porto in the league while scoring three goals in the process. He has also played five times in the Champions League which includes a man of the match performance against FC Basel earlier this week.

Casemiro may return to Real Madrid and play for their first team next season with the Los Blancos going through a small midfield crisis. Real Madrid have struggled after an injury to Luka Modric and with Khedira’s contract expiring and Illaramendi’s poor performances, Casemiro may be a possible solution to their problems.

#7 Ibrahim Afellay (Olympiakos, on loan from Barcelona)

Afellay’s is a career that showed so much promise but has been hampered regularly by severe injuries.

The Dutchman who joined Barcelona in 2011 showed a lot of promise during the initial stages of his Barcelona career before an anterior cruciate ligament tear started his problems. He recovered from the injury after several months and eventually moved to Schalke on loan in 2012, but another injury ended his season prematurely.

The former PSV star moved to Greek Champions Olympiakos on loan for the season after making just two substitute appearances for Barcelona in the previous season. The 28-year-old has found the back of the next three times in 14 league appearances and has scored two more goals in the UEFA Champions League, one of which came against Atletico Madrid in a winning cause.

Afellay may not have a future at Barcelona considering the Catalan club’s huge pool of attacking talent, but he has shown that he is still capable of performing at the top level.

#8 Denis Suarez (Sevilla, on loan from Barcelona)

Barcelona are usually the club who lose talented youngsters to poachers from around the world, but last season they nicked the talented Denis Suarez from Manchester City. Suarez moved to Sevilla on loan as a part of the deal that brought Ivan Rakitic to the Catalan club and has taken huge strides while playing for Sevilla this season.

The 21-year-old midfielder has started 21 games and made 12 substitute appearances for the defending Europa League champions across all competitions, and has four goals and four assists to his name.

Since Barcelona have a transfer ban in the summer, Denis might get a look-in into Luis Enrique’s first team plans for the next season, provided he continues his good progress at Sevilla.

#9 Christoph Kramer (Borussia Monchengladbach, on loan from Bayer Leverkusen)

Christoph Kramer’s career map matches that of compatriot Toni Kroos, because like Kroos, Kramer was also sent on loan by his parent club to another Bundesliga side for more than one season and after impressing during the loan spell, both made their way into the their club teams, the German National team and then played at the World Cup.

Kramer is originally a Bayer Leverkusen player and moved on loan to Monchengladbach for two seasons in 2013. In his first season itself he established himself as a regular with Gladbach and has continued to do so with distinction in the current season, except for an unreal own goal against Borussia Dortmund earlier in the season.

The 24-year-old German is attracting interest from many top European clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool and it is possible that Leverkusen may cash in on the player because they already have Lars Bender, Stefan Reinartz and Simon Rolfes who can play in Kramer’s position. Another possibility could be that Kramer’s return could finally pave the way for Lars Bender’s move away from the club.

#10 Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo, on loan from Juventus)

Berardi came through the ranks at Sassuolo before making a move to Juventus in 2013, but the Italian is yet to play for Juventus and has spent his entire time on loan at Sassuolo. He gained instant fame last season after he became the first player to score four goals in a game against Milan and the second youngest player to do so in Serie A.

He ended the previous season with an impressive tally of 16 goals in 30 games and his current form indicates that he could surpass that figure this time around. The 20-year-old has found the back of the next seven times and has also provided six assists so far in the league.

With Fernando Llorente in very poor form this season and Juventus selling Sebastian Giovinco, Berardi may finally get his chance to play for the Bianconeri in the coming season.