Loan Army: Roundup

Lets see how our loan army are getting on.....

Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gents,

Welcome back to the final 23/24 season loan army report. This is a summary of what our loan players have been up to over the entire season.

Remember I don’t include players who are out on loan with a Buy Option.

Lets get into it……

Gaga Slonina:

I think its been a brilliant learning curve for Gaga this season, it is his first season playing in European football consistently, in a tough league for a lower half side. He has made 34 appearances in all competitions, keeping 5 clean sheets. In the league this seasons he has made 106 saves at a save percentage of 66.7%. Two saves every Three shots.

The next loan is the crucial one for Gaga, I would like to see him in either one of the top 5 European leagues at a bottom half to mid table club OR a higher up club in the Championship

Bashir Humphreys:

A really good loan spell for Bash, which unfortunately the second half of was ruined by injury, he made 26 appearances in all competitions, missing 13 games via injury. The first half of the season he was excellent and was touted to even be in the Championship team of the season at one point.

Bash won an incredible 20 of his 22 tackles attempted in the championship this season, an incredible number, whilst also making 45 blocks!

It was a good loan for Bash overall and he could definitely have a further loan at the top end of the Championship or even the bottom half of the Prem in my opinion

Tino Anjorin:

Tino made 14 appearances for League 1 winning Portsmouth this season, unfortunately for Tino it was another fairly injury struck season, but the positive is there wasn’t multiple injuries it was just one that kept him out for 4 months, that may sound a bit silly but for anyone who knows Tino’s injury record in the last few years will understand that one longer term injury is much better than the 3/4/5 separate injuries of previous years.

He did score 2 goals in his limited appearances and got one assist with an average goal contributions of once every 140 minutes.

Tino has 1 year left on his contract and it may be best for him to move on and find a permanent home to settle down and focus on his football, a brilliant talent and at still only 22 he can reach his potential if he can stay injury free and settle somewhere I have no doubt in his talent.

He was back in the squad for the last 5 games of the season and hopfully will get a full pre season under his belt.

Omari Hutchinson:

Right so lets talk about Omari, for any SPTC Podcast listeners you will have heard me admit my bias around Omari to Jai last week.

I think Omari could be the loan player of the season (currently) for not only his performances but also his achievements.

Omari was an ever present in Ipswich’s squad this season, only missing 1 matchday squad through the entire season and was an unused sub once, meaning he missed just 2 games in all comps this season, making 50 appearances and contributing with 11 goals and 7 assists at an average of one goal involvement every 142 minutes, roughly once every game and a half.

Omari was used as a rotation option and last 20/30 minute sub predominantly through the first half of the season. After January he started to nail a place down in the side and even displaced Ipswich’s previous player of the season Conor Chaplin at one point. He started 12 of the last 13 games and played 90 minutes in 10 of those.

He won EFL player of the month in February, Ipswich Player of the month in February, March & May. He also won Ipswich Town young player of the season award.

I would like to see Omari return to Ipswich next season permanently, it is the perfect option for Omari and Chelsea in my view, he is almost guaranteed to start and gain valuable Premier League experience, he wouldn’t need to settle in new surroundings either, alternatively I would like to see him go to Germany or somewhere like that in the top 6/7 of a European league, somewhere a team will dominate the ball.

Harvey Vale:

The player that is closest to challenging Omari to loan player of the season (Currently), Harvey has had a fantastic season at Bristol Rovers.

Harvey made 47 appearances for Bristol Rovers this season and played over 3,500 minutes across all competitions. He was involved in 9 goals across the season with 3 goals and 6 assists.

Harvey played the majority of the season at either Left Back or Left Wing-Back which was an extremely good learning curve for him and will have helped round his game and his attributes. The Bristol Rovers fans have fallen in love with him as well!

I would love to see Harvey take a loan at the very top of the Championship next season, maybe one of the play off teams that don’t end up going up. He is more than good enough and this season will have stood him in great stead.

Charlie Webster:

A really good life experience for Charlie this season, spending time away from his natural surroundings, learning a different culture all of which will help him moving forward, he has earnt himself a new contract with Chelsea.

Charlie has made 12 appearances in the Eredivise this season, scoring 1 goal and unfortunately only playing a total of 159 minutes at an average of 13 mins per appearance.

Hopefully Charlie gets a loan next season where he can play week in week out, he could easily play in the championship in my opinion but a top 6 League 1 team could suit him perfectly as well.

Mason Burstow:

Mason has had a very hit and miss season I thought the loan was a strange one from the offset to be honest, I didn’t think Mason was ready for a loan at a top half Championship club (they didn’t end up there), Sunderland is a club with HUGE pressure and that’s not easy as a young man. The club should have done better with a loan for Mason in my view.

He made 20 appearances in all comps, scoring 1 goal and getting 1 assist, he averaged 44 mins per appearance.

I think Mason really needs to play consistent minutes at this stage of his career now, a League 1 loan would be my verdict for him next season somewhere he can play consistently and regain his confidence.

David Datro Fofana:

Datro had an interesting season from playing Champions League football to being relegated from the premier league. The odd part about that is he was fairly average for Union Berlin in the first half of the season and was really good for Burnley once he joined, he was the reason they had any hope going in to the final few weeks of the season.

He did have that one attitude issue at Berlin which he seems to have resolved now and after watching him play for Burnley he has impressed me. He was involved in 5 goals from 15 appearances for Burnley and 2 goals, 1 assist for Union Berlin in 17 appearances.

I can’t work him out though, at times I watch him and think there is a real player in there and then other times I wonder about his potential. I would like to see him go to a lower to mid table Prem side on Loan, maybe a Brentford, Fulham or Wolves.

Angelo Gabriel:

Angelo had a good first season in European football, he had large spells in and out of the starting team but consistently played when available, unfortunately he was injured for the final 2 months of the season.

He made 25 appearances in all comps, providing 4 assists, he averaged 54 minutes per appearance and I think it would be wise to leave him at Strasbourg for next season for continuity and minutes.

Dion Rankine:

Dion played lots of football this season, he was in and out of the side and I actually got to watch him live against Leyton Orient recently and he was brilliant a real livewire on the right wing.

He made 36 appearances in all competitions which is pretty impressive considering he must September-November with injury. He had 3 goal involvements across the season and similarly to Harvey Vale he experienced playing multiple positions from Right back, Right wing back to Right winger.

Another League 1 loan would suit Dion next season, another year of playing consistent football and then start adding goal contributions to his game further.

Alex Matos:

Alex spent the second half of the season on loan at Huddersfield Town, unfortunately the club were experiencing some turmoil when Alex joined and that continued until they were relegated on the final day of the season.

He played for multiple managers in a short period of time and managed to keep a starting spot mainly, he made 20 appearances playing almost 1500 minutes across those appearances.

Another Championship loan could really help Alex progress further next season.

Jamie Cumming:

The first of our loanees who’s season is still ongoing, Jamie and Oxford United are through to the League 1 play off final against Bolton Wanderers, tomorrow (Saturday 18th May) at 16.15 GMT.

Jamie joined Oxford in January and in his 22 appearances so far he has kept 7 clean sheets, almost one every 3 games, his most important game is yet to come.

I would love to see Jamie get Oxford promoted tomorrow and if he does, a permanent free transfer move to Oxford could be the best bet for his career at 24 years old.

Ian Maatsen:

I know many of you are calling for Ian Maatsen to play for Chelsea next season, I would have liked it as well. We may as well forget it, he will be leaving the club as he is a pure profit asset and Poch clearly does not fancy him as a left back, accept it, move on.

On to Ian’s loan spell, he has been tremendous for Dortmund since joining a real attacking force down the left and has contributed to 4 goals in 21 appearances, with 2 goals and 2 assists. He has only missed 172 minutes of available football and has played every second of their Champions league run.

The same as Jamie Cumming, Ian’s season is still ongoing, he is part of a Borussia Dortmund side who take on Real Madrid in the Champions League final on the 1st June.

Armando Broja

An awful loan for Armando, an easy £4m for Chelsea, I have accepted that Armando needs to leave to get his career back on track, I think he has great potential but he just HAS to play consistent minutes next season and that won’t be at Stamford Bridge.

8 appearances for Fulham, 1 assist and just 80 minutes played. It is not his own fault, since he joined the club Rodrigo Muniz has turnt into prime R9.

A top 5 European club where he is nailed on to be the main no9 is what Armando needs next, Chelsea must include a buy back or matching rights clause in my opinion.

Andrey Santos

After the disastrous Nottingham Forest loan, Andrey’s Strasbourg loan has been brilliant, it was delayed by his participation in Olympic qualifying for Brazil U23 initially and after a rough run of results Andrey was thrown in to shore up the midfield.

He started the remaining 8 games of the season in which Strasbourg picked up 13 points and guaranteed themselves survival for next season, Andrey scored the winner on the last game of the season.

He simply has to stay there next season, for all of the reasons I want Omari to stay at Ipswich, experience, minutes, no need to settle etc etc…..

Thank you all for reading and your support on this feature through the season, it requires a lot of research and hours watching clips etc which is all stuff I love doing and knowing you guys enjoy it makes it worth while!

Luke Rushbrook