It’s the final Loan Report of the 2013-14 season, and the streak is over. In every single week of the club campaign stretching as far back as the first days of August, a Chelsea loanee has scored a goal. More than thirty players have combined for over forty different loan deals and 123 goals but with fewer than a one third of that tally left in action over the past seven days, the run has finally been halted.
In more positive news, Thibaut Courtois became a Spanish league champion to secure the first of what could yet be a memorable double, but we’ll get to him later. To kick us off for the last time this season, let’s have a look at that streak.
Headliners
It withstood European winter breaks as a plentiful supply of domestic talent plugged away in the English league system over Christmas and the New Year. It withstood a barren run early in February when Croatian signing Mario Mario Pašalić arrived on the scene and grabbed some important goals for Hajduk Split. It even survived a dwindling tally of performers in recent weeks with Thorgan Hazard coming to the fore, but it couldn’t quite last all 39 non-international weeks of 13-14. This is how it was achieved:
[table class=”table table-striped”]
Week,Dates,Goalscorers
Week 1,August 3-8,Milan Lalkovic; Thorgan Hazard
Week 2,August 8-11,Patrick Bamford
Week 3,August 12-18,Thorgan Hazard
Week 4,August 19-25,Marko Marin; Todd Kane; Jhon Pírez; Patrick Bamford
Week 5,August 26-Sep 1,Patrick Bamford; Thorgan Hazard
Week 6,September 9-15,Stipe Perica; Patrick Bamford; Thorgan Hazard; Victor Moses
Week 7,September 16-22,Romelu Lukaku; Lucas Piazon
Week 8,September 23-29,Patrick Bamford; Thorgan Hazard; Lucas Piazon
Week 9,September 30-Oct 6,Patrick Bamford; Romelu Lukaku; Stipe Perica
Week 10,October 14-20,Lucas Piazon; Patrick van Aanholt; Patrick Bamford; George Saville; Thorgan Hazard
Week 11,October 21-27,Romelu Lukaku; Nathaniel Chalobah; Stipe Perica
Week 12,October 28-Nov 3,Gael Kakuta; Thorgan Hazard
Week 13,November 4-10,Christian Atsu; Thorgan Hazard; George Saville
Week 14,November 18-24,Romelu Lukaku; Patrick Bamford; Lucas Piazon; Gael Kakuta; Ulises Dávila
Week 15,November 25-Dec 1,Romelu Lukaku; Thorgan Hazard; Stipe Perica
Week 16,December 2-8,Lucas Piazon; Patrick van Aanholt; Nathaniel Chalobah; Ulises Dávila
Week 17,December 9-15,Lucas Piazon; Patrick Bamford; Milan Lalkovic
Week 18,December 16-22,Patrick van Aanholt; Lucas Piazon; Patrick Bamford; Milan Lalkovic
Week 19,December 26-29,Patrick Bamford; Romelu Lukaku
Week 20,January 1-5,Patrick Bamford
Week 21,January 6-12,Milan Lalkovic
Week 22,January 13-19,Patrick Bamford; Patrick van Aanholt; Christian Atsu; Thorgan Hazard
Week 23,January 20-26,Patrick Bamford; Victor Moses
Week 24,January 27-Feb 2,Patrick Bamford
Week 25,Feb 3-9,Stipe Perica; Mario Pašalić
Week 26,Feb 10-16,Mario Pašalić
Week 27,Feb 17-23,Patrick Bamford; Christian Atsu
Week 28,Feb 24-Mar 2,Romelu Lukaku
Week 29,March 3-9,Romelu Lukaku; George Saville
Week 30,March 10-16,Milan Lalkovic; Joao Rodriguez
Week 31,March 17-23,Romelu Lukaku; Christian Atsu
Week 32,March 24-30,Romelu Lukaku; Patrick Bamford; Cristian Cuevas; Bertrand Traore; Thorgan Hazard
Week 33,March 31-April 6,Nathaniel Chalobah; Bertrand Traore; Romelu Lukaku; Mario Pašalić
Week 34,April 7-13,Patrick Bamford; Stipe Perica; Thorgan Hazard; Christian Atsu; Bertrand Traore; Mario Pašalić
Week 35,April 14-21,Sam Hutchinson; Todd Kane
Week 36,April 22-26,Thorgan Hazard
Week 37,April 27-May 4,Thorgan Hazard; Romelu Lukaku; Uli Dávila
Week 38,May 5-11,Thorgan Hazard; Romelu Lukaku
Week 39,May 12-18,
[/table]
One man who was never going to be in a position to contribute was Courtois, but no loanee has been more impressive. The Belgian continued his own personal streak of acquiring silverware on May 17th into a third straight year by winning La Liga with Atlético Madrid following a dramatic 1-1 draw away to Barcelona.
He also claimed the Zamora award for most clean sheets in the Spanish top flight but he’s not done yet. All eyes are on Lisbon next Saturday as Atléti face off against cross-town rivals Real Madrid in the Champions League Final. It could turn out to be Courtois’ final game for the club following three years on loan and he will want to ensure a memorable finish.
Another loanee in Spain picked up a trophy in midweek as Marko Marin found himself in the midst of Europa League celebrations once again. After winning it with Chelsea last year he this time earned it with Sevilla, although his involvement in the Final against Benfica was short and sweet as he came off the bench only to later be replaced through an injury that would then rule him out of their league finale at home to Elche on Sunday.
France
Also making what will almost certainly be his final appearance for his club was Kurt Zouma. Saint Etienne went into their last fixture needing to better Lille’s result to make their Champions League qualification dreams a reality, and whilst Les Verts did their part, two goals from Salomon Kalou ensured it was Lille who took the final berth.
Zouma played the full match at right-back and finished the season having worked his way back into the fold after being cast aside for much of February, March and April.
Belgium
The Belgian league playoffs came to a head this week and Zulte Waregem knew nothing less than six points from their two matches would suffice if they wanted a Champions League place. Instead, they lost at home to Anderlecht and away to Club Brugge to wind up fourth, which brings a place in the Europa League qualifiers.
Thorgan Hazard made what will probably be his last appearance in front of the Essevee fans on Thursday in the first of those two defeats and was serenaded by a group of supporters who sent him on his way with a memorable banner. He was also watched by Jose Mourinho, who had made the trip to Belgium to watch the younger brother of Eden, the reigning Chelsea Player of the Year.
Spain
Oriol Romeu was not involved for Valencia against Celta on Sunday; Uli Dávila played an hour of Córdoba’s 1-0 win at Tenerife, and Jhon Pírez was absent for Leganés’ playoff opener away at Guijuelo on Sunday.
Croatia
Mario Pašalić’s last game in a Hajduk Split shirt didn’t even reach full time as a curiously scheduled final day match away to Dinamo Zagreb was abandoned with ten minutes remaining due to crowd trouble. Dinamo have long since been crowned champions but with the trophy presentation set for a fierce derby atmosphere, problems persisted throughout and the 1-0 result stood after 80 minutes of play. Pašalic took part in the whole thing but was unable to contribute to the scoresheet.
Italy
Kakuta did not play for Lazio against Genoa and Wallace was not involved for Inter away to Chievo.
Rest of the Season
There is still some action left in the club season yet. Next Saturday, Patrick Bamford and Derby County head to Wembley to take on Queens Park Rangers for a place in the Premier League. Meanwhile, the Spanish lower leagues continue well into June, meaning Dávila and Pírez still have some work to do before they can jet off on their summer holidays.
The numbers aren’t enough to warrant a full Loan Report but you can keep up with their travails by following @chelseayouth on Twitter and in particular looking out for the #loanwatch hashtag. The coming week or so will also see a full rundown of the loanee season in a series of nation-by-nation reviews here at TheChels.net.