How each Premier League club uses the loans market

Loan deals in football were once very simple: ‘Here’s a footballer who isn’t getting in our team. They can play for you guys for a bit instead, yeah? Best of luck.’

Now, things are ever so slightly more complicated.

Some players are sent out on these temporary transfers to try to raise their value for a permanent one (with little expectation they’ll ever play for their parent club once the loan ends). Some are for accounting purposes (when really it’s already the permanent deal it’ll later become). Some happen because they’re not playing for their club and their salary takes up too much of the PSR (profitability and sustainability rules) pie.

Every deal can be unique and every club has their own approach to this aspect of the transfer market. Some clubs’ owners avoid incoming loans, seeing them as an investment they make that another team will benefit from; some see them as an easy way to plug a gap in their first-team side that season, especially if injuries strike; and to some they are an integral part of their business model.

Here, our reporters explain each Premier League club’s strategy…

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Arsenal

Arsenal have shown some creativity and ingenuity in the loan market previously. Bringing in Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid in January 2021 for the rest of that season was a masterstroke, and they were able to make his move permanent that summer.

They also used some creative accounting to sign David Raya on a season’s loan from Brentford in the summer of 2023. There was a conditional obligation attached for the deal to go through as a permanent transfer the following summer.

However, this season’s loans have been less successful.

Arsenal borrowed Neto from Bournemouth and Raheem Sterling from Chelsea on the final day of the summer window. Although the pair filled gaps in the squad, neither has made a great impression. Their presence also meant Arsenal had filled their domestic loan criteria for the season before the winter window opened, which limited their options when it did.

At academy level, they did not loan out as many of their young players as had been anticipated during the winter window. This was due to a variety of factors: mainly offers that either didn’t provide the best environment for the development of the player concerned or failed to meet Arsenal’s financial criteria.

James McNicholas

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Aston Villa

Leaning on the loans market has been a key part of Villa’s recruitment in recent seasons under manager Unai Emery and president of football operations Monchi. The club have tended to use such signings to cover gaps in the squad and recruit European-calibre players, some of whom had gone through a poor spell of form with their own team, on a temporary basis.

For example, they signed Nicolo Zaniolo (Galatasaray) and Clement Lenglet (Barcelona) on loans covering almost all of last season and in the winter window that closed just over a week ago, Villa relied on loans to end it with a flourish. Axel Disasi was borrowed from Chelsea, Marco Asensio came from Paris Saint-Germain and Marcus Rashford left Manchester United.

In each case, their salaries are prohibitive, with Villa covering most of those costs on top of paying loan fees to the respective parent clubs. However, the club view this strategy as a ‘try before you buy’ approach, reducing the risk of signings not working out and then being stuck with the players involved.

They have options on Rashford, are in the driving seat when it comes to Asensio and if Disasi works out — given the player was keen to be coached by Emery — a longer-term solution will be discussed in the summer.

Jacob Tanswell

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Bournemouth

Bournemouth have not relied on the loans market to improve their squad, rarely making multiple temporary additions in a single window.

Of their current squad, only Kepa Arrizabalaga has been borrowed from elsewhere, joining from Chelsea for the remainder of the season in late August. Kepa could follow his team-mates Luis Sinisterra and Enes Unal in becoming permanent Bournemouth signings after an initial loan. Sinisterra spent 2023-24 with them following Leeds United’s relegation to the Championship, and Unal came aboard from Getafe for the second half of that season. Bournemouth then bought both players over the summer.

In terms of outgoings, Bournemouth have depended on the loans market to get first-team minutes for players in their under-19s and under-21s squads. Across the past three windows, their youngsters have had spells at Hibernian in Scotland’s top flight, League One (English third tier) sides Leyton Orient and Crawley, and National League (fifth tier) teams Salisbury, Weymouth and Farnborough, among others.

Over this season’s two windows, they have also had to shift a few senior players out on loan due to them having no guarantee of regular minutes under head coach Andoni Iraola, for stylistic reasons, or a bit of both.

Joe Rothwell (Leeds), Neto (Arsenal), Chris Mepham (Sunderland), Jaidon Anthony (Burnley), Romain Faivre (Brest) and Hamed Traore (Auxerre) departed in the summer, followed by Philip Billing (Napoli), Mark Travers (Middlesbrough) and Max Aarons (Valencia) in the winter window.

Anantaajith Raghuraman

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Brentford

Brentford utilise the loan market to find regular game time for their B-team players. One of the best examples of this is Paris Maghoma, who spent 2023-24 with Bolton Wanderers and won their young player of the season award for helping them to finish third in League One, English football’s third tier.

The club have established a strong relationship with Exeter City, also in League One, and have sent multiple players there over the past few years including Tristan Crama, Tony Yogane and Ryan Trevitt. The long-term plan is for these players to either break into the Brentford first team, which Maghoma has managed to do this season, or be sold for a profit, as in the case of Crama, who joined Millwall of the second-tier Championship permanently in January.

Brentford rarely sign players in a straight loan deal as they do not think it is worth investing in an individual who will not stay with them long-term.

They do sign players in such deals if they include either an option or an obligation to buy them when the loan ends, which is what happened with Kevin Schade and, last month, Michael Kayode. Doing so gives them time to assess the player before making a big financial commitment.

Jay Harris

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Brighton

Not fans of signing players on loan, Brighton prefer to rely on their own pathway structure and coaching to aid progress and value, with control of what happens next for the players involved.

An exception to this in borrowing Levi Colwill from Chelsea for the 2022-23 season proved the point. He thrived at Brighton and they were keen to sign him permanently. But although the defender loved his time at the club, he ended up agreeing a new, long-term contract at Chelsea, where he kicked on to become a first-team regular and an England international.

Also in 2022-23, the expensive and ultimately unsuccessful loan of Ansu Fati from Barcelona for the club’s first season in European competition was a diversion from the norm.

They frequently farm out young players around the lower divisions and abroad to make them more rounded by experiencing a different environment and different voices. Three youngsters signed last summer left again in that same window on season-long loans: Ibrahim Osman (Feyenoord), Malick Yalcouye (Sturm Graz) and Amario Cozier-Duberry (Blackburn Rovers).

A significant new development this season is the confidence in the club’s growth to loan out young talents to other Premier League teams: Facundo Buonanotte (Leicester City), Evan Ferguson (West Ham United) and Julio Enciso (Ipswich Town).

Andy Naylor

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Chelsea

Chelsea have loaned a host of players out this season, including Joao Felix to Milan (pictured top right), Axel Disasi to Aston Villa, Ben Chilwell to Crystal Palace, Armando Broja to Everton and Raheem Sterling to Arsenal.

But one of the most interesting aspects of their loans policy comes from their close ties with Strasbourg of the French top flight. BlueCo, the company which officially owns Chelsea, also bought a majority stake in Strasbourg in June 2023, and four of the Premier League club’s players have since been sent there on loan: Angelo Gabriel, Andrey Santos, Caleb Wiley and Djordje Petrovic.

All were given game time, which there is never a guarantee of when you loan players out. (Admittedly, Wiley made just six appearances before being recalled and then farmed out to Watford of the second-tier Championship instead on deadline day just over a week ago, but his minutes in France were restricted by knee and shoulder injuries.)

Winger Angelo Gabriel was bought from Santos of Brazil for £12.95million in July 2023, and after 25 games and four assists for the Ligue 1 club on loan last season was sold to Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia in September, without ever making an official appearance for Chelsea, for £19.4m.

Andrey Santos also came to Chelsea in summer 2023 then was sent to Strasbourg the following January, after making just two appearances for Nottingham Forest on loan during the first half of last season. He has been a regular ever since, having extended his stay to cover 2024-25, and is now rated as one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1. Such is his progress, Chelsea plan to promote the 20-year-old into their senior squad for next season.

Significantly, Mathis Amougou, a 19-year-old signed from Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne for around £12.5million on deadline day last week, is being lined up to replace Andrey Santos at Strasbourg next season in the hope he can follow a similar career path.

Goalkeeper Petrovic is the outlier of the Strasbourg loanees in that he was a first-team regular at Chelsea last season but head coach Enzo Maresca preferred Robert Sanchez and new arrival Filip Jorgensen in goal after succeeding Mauricio Pochettino in the summer. By being first choice for Strasbourg instead of sitting on the bench (at best) at Chelsea, there is a better chance for Petrovic to secure himself a permanent transfer and the club a decent fee in the future.

Strasbourg benefit from this arrangement too, as they arguably get to use players of a quality they perhaps would not have been able to attract otherwise. They are currently three points off the European places in Ligue 1 having flirted with relegation in two of the previous three seasons.

Simon Johnson

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Crystal Palace

The loans strategy at Crystal Palace over the past decade appears to have been centred on finding either young players at other Premier League teams in need of first-team minutes (Hi, Chelsea! U up?), or more experienced ones who have, for whatever reason, fallen out of favour at their parent club (Hi again, Chelsea).

In terms of outgoings, Palace have improved the loan destinations for their academy players in recent seasons, finding more appropriate and higher-level clubs for their more talented young players who are nevertheless not yet able to break into the first team at Selhurst Park.

The arrival of England international full-back Ben Chilwell from Chelsea for the rest of the season on the winter window’s deadline day should hopefully help fill a defensive gap created by Trevoh Chalobah being recalled by their parent club a couple of weeks earlier following a series of injuries at centre-back.

In previous years, they have borrowed Loic Remy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Michy Batshuayi (two stints), Patrick Bamford and Conor Gallagher from Chelsea.

Matt Woosnam

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Everton

Everton’s perilous financial situation in recent seasons has meant that they have had to use the loans market extensively. With meagre budgets at their disposal and a takeover process previously ongoing, the club resorted to short-term fixes out of necessity.

This season, they have used their full domestic quota (of two), borrowing Jack Harrison from Leeds and Armando Broja from Chelsea. They have also filled three overseas loan spots with Orel Mangala (Lyon), Jesper Lindstrom (Napoli) and last week’s deadline-day addition of Carlos Alcaraz from Brazil’s Flamengo.

Whether that policy continues beyond this season remains to be seen, as Everton should have more PSR (profitability and sustainability rules) headroom and spending power under their new American owners The Friedkin Group. Yet with 13 of the squad set to be out of contract come the summer as it stands, resources will likely have to be carefully managed once more.

In terms of outgoing loans, such moves are seen as useful bridging points to Everton’s first team for the club’s young prospects.

The process of finding the right destinations for these players is overseen in part by former Everton striker James Vaughan, with 18-year-old midfielder Harrison Armstrong, a top homegrown talent with only six senior appearances to his name, being sent to Derby County of the second-tier Championship for the rest of this season before the winter window closed last Monday.

Patrick Boyland

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Fulham

This season is an outlier in at least one way for Fulham — its mid-season transfer window marked the first time they had not made a loan signing since Shahid Khan bought the club in 2013.

Overseen by Khan’s son, and their sporting director, Tony, Fulham have used the loans market to plug gaps in their squad and capitalise on out-of-favour players elsewhere who would usually be beyond their reach.

Last summer’s deal to borrow Reiss Nelson neatly illustrates the benefits and risks involved.

Signing a talented 24-year-old winger with Champions League experience might have ordinarily been beyond Fulham’s budget, but Arsenal’s deadline-day deal to bring in long-time England international Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea pushed Nelson further down the pecking order at his position. With the clock ticking, Fulham were able to take Nelson for the rest of the season.

He made a swift impact too, forcing his way into Marco Silva’s starting line-up. A hamstring injury in December checked his momentum, but he had already shown he was worth keeping.

The downside? The deal was a quick fix and Fulham did not agree an option to buy the player when his loan ends, leaving the power in the hands of Nelson and Arsenal.

Whether these deals are shrewd investments or indications of poor planning, loans have helped build Fulham’s strongest squad in years. Expect them to dip back into that market come the summer.

Justin Guthrie

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Ipswich

Ahead of their promotion back to the second-tier Championship in summer 2023, Ipswich used the loans market to sign young players from Premier League clubs — Omari Hutchinson, Brandon Williams and Dane Scarlett — utilising manager Kieran McKenna’s links with former sides Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, and his reputation for developing up-and-coming talent.

While winning a second straight promotion and now as they attempt to survive in the Premier League, Ipswich have typically brought in loanees with more first-team experience; the Championship-hardened pair of Lewis Travis and Kieffer Moore at mid-season to aid their ultimately successful push to escape that division, followed by Jens Cajuste, Kalvin Phillips and Ben Godfrey last summer to bolster a squad short of top-flight experience.

Ipswich have borrowed young forwards from Premier League Brighton in successive January windows, with Julio Enciso explaining he spoke to team-mate Jeremy Sarmiento, who made the same move a year before, before making the temporary switch to Portman Road last month.

The club tend to loan young players to lower-division sides in and around their home region of East Anglia — Colchester United, currently in League Two (English football’s fourth tier), have long been a common destination, and four academy prospects have been sent to sixth-tier Chelmsford City this season alone.

Ali Rampling

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Leicester

The loan market has proved valuable for Leicester City in recent years. Academy products, including Ben Chilwell, Harvey Barnes and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. have gone out to get vital experience and then kicked on. Those three were sold for a combined total of £110million.

Temporary deals have proved positive for incomings too. For example, an initial loan deal for Abdul Fatawu mitigated the risk of him not settling into English football, allowing them to see him consistently last season before spending £14million to sign him.

Last summer’s deals have worked out very differently. Leicester used up their two Premier League loan slots on Facundo Buonanotte and Odsonne Edouard. Buonanotte has started just three league games under Ruud van Nistelrooy but at least he was excellent under Steve Cooper — Edouard, on the other hand, has been an unmitigated disaster.

Rob Tanner

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Liverpool

The last time Liverpool signed a player on loan was in September 2022 when they picked up Arthur Melo from Juventus. Perhaps the disastrous deal (he did not make a single league appearance) put them off making temporary moves because since then, their recruitment strategy has been clear.

Now Liverpool recruit players who they believe have a long-term future at the club and spend months researching their qualities to minimise any doubt.

The loan market is still useful, though. After signing goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia in the summer, Liverpool agreed to send him back for the remainder of the season.

There is also a collaborative approach to deciding where to send their top young players and how to support each player during their time away. Ben Doak (to Middlesbrough), Lewis Koumas (Stoke City) and Owen Beck (Blackburn) are prime examples of it working well this season, with the head of loans, Matt Newberry, working closely with other senior staff to decide on the best short-term route out of the club.

Gregg Evans

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Manchester City

City do three types of loans, two of which are more common. There are those, such as Juma Bah in January, who City sign to loan out — sometimes to other clubs within the City Football Group, such as Girona, but not always. The goal is to develop them and, most likely, sell on at a later date. Pedro Porro is a good example.

For the academy players they loan out, City consider the team’s playing style (Rochdale were used because of Brian Barry-Murphy’s possession-based approach, before he took over City’s under-23s), and the size of the club’s attendances and their season objectives — Sunderland (then in League One) and Hamburg (2.Bundesliga) serve as good examples of big clubs with lots of fans and large expectations who City have used.

Then there is the rarer third tier: out-of-favour right-backs with no immediate prospect of a full transfer, such as Joao Cancelo in 2023 and Kyle Walker in 2025. In those cases, City are not too picky.

Sam Lee

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Manchester United

United have used the loan market more by circumstance than design in recent years, primarily to offload players on wages other clubs cannot afford. Marcus Rashford is the clearest example, with no club willing or able to pay a permanent fee. The clause in Rashford’s Villa loan is only for a buy option at £40million, meaning they can trigger it or not.

With Jadon Sancho last winter, United built bonuses into the deal and benefited from Borussia Dortmund reaching the Champions League final, but with the German side unable to cover his salary, ultimately he went to Chelsea on a loan with an obligation to buy at between £20m to £25m, depending on performances.

This January, Antony and Tyrell Malacia are outcasts who have been temporarily removed from the wage bill.

United have also looked to make loan signings due to their precarious financial picture, or a need for stopgap additions. Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer fell into this category in January 2023 before Sofyan Amrabat arrived that summer for a €10m loan fee.

This year, United looked at Mathys Tel, Christopher Nkunku and Leon Bailey but kept their powder dry for summer. They felt a £5m loan fee for Bayern Munich’s Tel was too much without a buy option.

United also loan out youth players to get them further along the path to the first team or to raise their values for sale. Last season, Alvaro Fernandez Carreras was loaned to Grenada then Benfica, who also included a buy option at €6m.

This January, Ethan Wheatley, Dan Gore, and Joe Hugill went out to lower leagues. Toby Collyer’s future was debated last summer and this January but Erik ten Hag then Amorim made the calls to keep him.

Laurie Whitwell

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Newcastle United

On an incoming basis at first-team level, Newcastle rarely use the loan market. Matt Targett was an exception in January 2022, largely out of desperation and a lack of alternatives, while Lewis Hall’s loan-with-an-obligation-to-buy deal from Chelsea was essentially a permanent transfer in all but initial structure.

Eddie Howe prefers permanent signings, especially in mid-season windows, because he believes most players available on loan at that point are underperforming or there is likely to be an issue behind the scenes. They can also be expensive but, more pertinently, Howe does not believe any Premier League club wants to do Newcastle a favour.

There had been no incoming loans this season, but outgoings wise, Lloyd Kelly to Juventus aside (again, a loan with an obligation), there have been temporary departures for Isaac Hayden to Portsmouth and Jamal Lewis to Sao Paulo, both of whom are surplus to requirements.

Younger players Harrison Ashby and Joe White have also been sent out to gain experience. Last month, some under-21 players moved out temporarily, with Travis Hernes, Alex Murphy and Charlie McArthur among them. However, there have been questions raised by supporters about where Newcastle place their young players, given Garang Kuol had a series of difficult loans that stunted his development, while Murphy (Bolton) and McArthur (Carlisle) joined clubs who sacked their managers soon afterwards.

Yankuba Minteh is probably the exception to the rule for Newcastle’s approach to the loan market. Signed from Odense in 2023, he was immediately loaned to Feyenoord and then sold to Brighton last year for £30m — a deal that massively aided Newcastle’s frantic rush to satisfy PSR.

Chris Waugh

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Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest probably owe their Premier League status to their intelligent use of the loan market — but they have had mixed fortunes with temporary deals recently.

A core of temporary additions were at the heart of their play-off success in the Championship in 2022, with Philip Zinckernagel, Djed Spence, James Garner, Max Lowe and Keinan Davis playing big roles.

Immediately after promotion, loan signings Renan Lodi, Dean Henderson and Keylor Navas helped Forest survive. Chris Wood initially arrived on loan from Newcastle in January 2023 before completing a £15million switch the following summer.

Last season’s loan moves were a collective disaster, with Gio Reyna, Nuno Tavares, Divock Origi, Andrey Santos and Rodrigo Ribeiro making little impact, although Gonzalo Montiel was decent at full-back.

Forest have been more cautious with loans in the 2024-25 season. Alex Moreno has been an astute signing from Aston Villa and Forest have the option to sign him permanently. James Ward-Prowse has been recalled by West Ham, but was well-liked by Nuno Espirito Santo, despite his lack of game time.

Forest have used the loan market to ensure fringe players and promising youngsters get game time.

Paul Taylor

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Southampton

Previously the answer to this would be that Southampton had an eye for bringing in players who could bolster the team — deals for Armando Broja, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and (throwing it back a long way) Toby Alderweireld were successful — but this window illustrates what the loan market has become for Southampton: a means of shipping out their transfer mistakes.

An alarming number of summer signings were not a success in the first half of the season and two went on loan this month, with Ben Brereton Diaz (Sheffield United) and Ronnie Edwards (Peterborough United) shipped out. Maxwel Cornet’s loan from West Ham ended early while a few others, including fellow summer arrival Cameron Archer, were subject to speculation.

In the end, Adam Armstrong was sent out on loan to West Bromwich Albion instead. If he fares as well as Shea Charles at Sheffield Wednesday, that deal could be the best use of the loan market for Southampton in readiness for a Championship campaign next season.

Nancy Froston

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Tottenham

Will Lankshear’s move to West Brom is a perfect example of how Spurs operate in the loan market. Lankshear is a highly rated 19-year-old striker who won the Premier League 2’s player of the season award last year. Once on the books of Arsenal’s academy, Lankshear has made a few first-team appearances under Ange Postecoglou but he needs regular minutes to keep developing. Yang Min-hyeok, who moved to Queens Park Rangers in January, is in a similar position.

Spurs have a long-standing and fruitful relationship with Leyton Orient. Jamie Donley is excelling in an attacking midfield role for them. Goalkeeper Josh Keeley scored a header in an FA Cup tie and has made 19 appearances in League One. Harry Kane, Tottenham’s all-time top goalscorer, benefited from a loan spell with Orient at the beginning of his career.

A few members of the first-team squad are on loan — Mathys Tel, Kevin Danso and Timo Werner. Werner’s long-term future is unclear but Danso and Tel are expected to stay around past the summer due to options contained in their deals.

Jay Harris

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West Ham

West Ham have often used the loan market to their advantage. Jesse Lingard’s temporary switch from Manchester United in January 2021 was a huge success. He revived his career, earned an England recall and helped West Ham secure European football.

In August, defender Jean-Clair Todibo joined on a season-long loan, with an obligation to buy. Todibo has been a solid addition and West Ham intend to honour the clause at the end of the season. In the last six months, Carlos Soler and Evan Ferguson have joined on loan from Paris-Saint Germain and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Before academy prospects leave on loan, Carlton Cole, the former England and West Ham striker, plays an important role in deciding their clubs. Cole is the club’s loans manager and this season, Freddie Potts has gained valuable first-team experience at Portsmouth, making 26 Championship appearances. Last season, Potts was named Wycombe Wanderers’ player of the year in his loan spell at the League One side.

Roshane Thomas

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Wolves

Like most Premier League clubs, Wolves’ use of the loan system has expanded in recent years. The need to manage young players’ pathways to senior football means academies are becoming profit-making businesses as well as breeding grounds for their own club’s first team.

Wolves routinely have half a dozen or more players on loan in League One, League Two and, occasionally, the Championship. These moves help the players prove themselves to potential buyers when they hit their early twenties.

The European loan market is also a tool Wolves use to hand players vital experience — such as Hugo Bueno at Feyenoord this season — or temporarily offload players without a future in the first team or a potential buyer in the UK.

But it is hard to remember the last time Wolves used an incoming loan to give their first team a quick lift.

Instead, they tend to use loans into the club as an accounting tool to help defer payments on what are effectively permanent transfers, such as when Tommy Doyle and Matheus Cunha joined initially on loan on deals that were always destined to become longer lasting.

Steve Madeley

(Top photos: Marcus Rashford, left, and Joao Felix; Getty Images)