We’re back up to full speed on the loan front this week with the last of those having had winter breaks now returning to action, but it’s Izzy Brown who continued the streak of us having at least one loanee score in every full week of the club season so far.
Headliners
Brown, you might remember, began the campaign in the red and white of Rotherham, but moved across Yorkshire to join Huddersfield a fortnight ago. He’s been thrown straight into the first team with the Terriers suffering a bit of an injury crisis – Kasey Palmer has been one of the recent absentees – and he began to make his presence felt with a goal in Saturday’s win at home to Ipswich.
Marco van Ginkel also weighed in with a second goal in as many PSV appearances to rescue a 90th-minute equaliser in a wild 4-3 home draw against Heerenveen, with Hector Moreno then finding the back of the net afterwards to claim an unlikely win.
England
Patrick Bamford departed the loan army this week after the completion of his £6m transfer to Middlesbrough, where he spent a very successful 2014-15. Unfortunately, three Premier League loan spells since then haven’t quite gone his way, so he has returned to the Riverside in a deal that could be worth as much as £10m should he be a success there.
That leaves Loic Remy as the sole Premier League loanee, and he was in action twice this week as Crystal Palace beat Bolton in an FA Cup replay before losing at home to Everton on Saturday, playing an hour on each occasion.
In the Championship, Tammy Abraham was rested for Bristol City’s FA Cup replay at Fleetwood, playing 22 minutes of their 1-0 win, before being restored to the starting lineup for Saturday’s trip to Nottingham Forest. Unfortunately for the Robins their poor league form continued, losing out to this remarkable goal from Forest’s Ben Osborn.
Fulham earned a hard-fought point in a West London derby away to QPR with Tomas Kalas getting 90 minutes and Lucas Piazon 77, whilst Christian Atsu remains on international duty with Ghana at the African Nations Cup, where he’s playing quite well.
Jay Dasilva’s Charlton saw their weekend clash with Scunthorpe fall foul of the weather, leaving the Blues trio stationed at Swindon as the only League One participants this weekend. Despite coming up with the goods away to Bolton last weekend, Charlie Colkett, Islam Feruz and Fankaty Dabo were unable to help avoid a 1-0 defeat at home to Peterborough, although Colkett did claim the Man of the Match award for a performance full of flair and creativity.
@OfficialColkz that was dirty!!!👍👍👍 pic.twitter.com/QdXSRdyZ5K
— Eliteprosportsfc (@Elitegoprofc) January 21, 2017
Jordan Houghton and Alex Kiwomya went head-to-head in League Two with form favouring the former; Doncaster beat Crewe 3-1 to stay top of the table, four points clear of a Plymouth side that have played a game fewer. Houghton got his customary 90 minutes but Kiwomya saw just 22 minutes from the bench.
Wycombe extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to fifteen matches with a 1-1 draw at home to Luton Town; Jamal Blackman was in goal as usual.
Dion Conroy played all of Aldershot’s 1-1 draw at Gateshead and also now has company in the National League with Nathan Baxter having joined Solihull Moors until the end of the season. Baxter, who spent the first half of the season at Met Police two divisions lower than the National League, made a good start with a clean sheet on debut in a draw against Boreham Wood.
Italy
Mario Pašalić retained his place as a start for Milan in a big Saturday night clash with Napoli but couldn’t help them avoid a 2-1 defeat, making way four minutes from time for Mbaye Niang as Milan chased a point at the death. Juan Cuadrado, meanwhile, got 90 minutes for Juventus in a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Lazio, keeping them top by four points with a game in hand.
Spain
Jeremie Boga started for Granada away to Espanyol but had a quiet first half and was substituted at the break. Granada lost and are well on their way to relegation. Victorien Angban is at the African Cup of Nations.
Netherlands
Vitesse began their match away to Groningen on Saturday without a single Chelsea loanee in the starting eleven; they’ve had at least one blue play for them in every match going back more than five years. Matt Miazga ensured that run continued as he was pressed into action at half time for the injured Guram Kashia, but Nathan was an unused substitute and Lewis Baker was serving a one-match suspension after being sent off against FC Twente last weekend.
Excelsior drew 1-1 against Go Ahead Eagles without Danilo Pantic involved. Bertrand Traore is still away from Ajax on international duty.
Germany
Andreas Christensen resumed Bundesliga action for 2017 with a clean sheet as Borussia Mönchengladbach drew 0-0 at Darmstad, a result that does little to help them and leaves them still nervously looking over their shoulder at the relegation zone.
Michael Hector also started for Eintracht Frankfurt, who are enjoying a spell in the top six, but they lost 3-0 at second-placed RB Leipzig with the Jamaican defender involved from first to last. They did have their goalkeeper sent off after just two minutes…
Find me a better red card than this https://t.co/6fCz8ur0oo
— Joel Parker (@Joelissimmo) January 21, 2017
Baba Rahman, unfortunately, suffered a serious knee injury whilst away with Ghana at the African Nations Cup, almost certainly ending his stay at Schalke. He will return to Cobham for an assessment and the deal is set to be terminated this week before the young left-back embarks upon a likely 8-month rehab.
Belgium
Mouscron returned to Belgian league action with a rare and much needed win over Lokeren on Saturday, one in which Matej Delač played.
Cristian Cuevas, who was recently part of the Chile squad for the 2017 China Cup, was an unused substitute for Sint-Truiden’s defeat at Anderlecht.
Turkey
Alanyaspor host Besiktas on Monday with Kenneth Omeruo expected to start. Keep an eye on our Loanwatch page for news of his involvement.