Our last Loan Report had plenty of goals in. This week…not so much, but with the Eredivisie resuming there’s more action to catch up on as 2016 begins to fully roll into action. In the absence of anyone else deserving to take the lead this week, we kick off with Chelsea’s newest loanee.
Headliners
Mitchell Beeney saw the first half of his season affected by injury, limiting him to just three appearances before the turn of the year. Now 20 and needing to get his professional career underway, he joined League Two side Newport County on a month-long deal on Friday and went straight into the team for the weekend trip to York City.
Under the Exiles’ new manager Warren Feeney, Beeney excelled in keeping a debut clean sheet to earn a valuable three points in their battle against relegation. He made two terrific saves in particular to preserve the 1-0 win:
England
Marco van Ginkel played five minutes as a timewasting substitute for Stoke at home to Arsenal (0-0) after fourteen minutes from the bench in a midweek victory over Norwich (3-1).
Victor Moses made his return from a hamstring injury suffered before Christmas by coming off the bench for twenty minutes away to Newcastle, but he was unable to help the Hammers earn a point in their eventual 2-1 defeat.
Nathan Aké will be eligible to return to the Watford line-up on Monday night away to Swansea after serving a three-match suspension acquired for a red card against Tottenham Hotspur.
There was also a double helping of Championship action this week, with John Swift earning a pair of starts. He played 73 minutes on Tuesday in a 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough – for whom Tomas Kalas was an unused substitute – and was then given 67 minutes in a Friday night frustration at home to Burnley; the Bees going down 3-1 for consecutive home defeats.
Kalas fared little better at the weekend, once again remaining on the bench for Boro’s defeat at Bristol City. Given his diminishing involvement at the Riverside Stadium, it might not be a huge surprise if he were to find an alternative arrangement during this transfer window.
Lucas Piazon also started twice for Reading in a draw at Derby and a full ninety minutes in a 1-0 defeat away to MK Dons, but Michael Hector was absent from both matches, leaving him without any involvement so far in 2016 and little word as to why.
Netherlands
The Eredivisie resumed from a winter hiatus this weekend and it did so for Vitesse with a new manager. Peter Bosz opted to move to Maccabi Tel-Aviv in December, leaving his former assistant Rob Maas to take charge in a continuity-based move until the end of the season. He got off to a winning start on Saturday with a 2-0 win at Cambuur and starts for two of his five Blues youngsters.
Dominic Solanke and Izzy Brown each kicked off in attack with Lewis Baker and Danilo Pantic remaining unused on the bench throughout and Nathan not selected, likely due to a lack of match fitness after his knee ligament problem. Brown played well, looking lively and sharp throughout, and had multiple chances to score but was unable to take them. Solanke, on the other hand, was quieter than usual and didn’t impact the match a great deal. Both were substituted with roughly a quarter of an hour remaining.
Todd Kane helped NEC Nijmegen up into fifth, a point behind Vitesse, with another good performance and a clean sheet in a 1-0 win at home to Willem II.
France
Jeremie Boga kept his starting place for Rennes for the first time in the league this season – a reward for his goal last time out – and he played well once again in a 4-2 win away to Troyes. Finding themselves 2-0 down inside a quarter of an hour, Rennes bounced back with three goals before half time with Boga – playing on the left wing – influential in one of them. His control, skill and cross caused problems for the Troyes goalkeeper, allowing fellow talented youngster Ousmane Dembele to apply the finish for their third of four goals.
Boga’s growing in stature and confidence each and every week and now gets Paul-Georges Ntep – Rennes’ best player – back from an injury picked up in November to play with. He’s earning the trust of manager Philippe Montanier and can look forward to a productive run between now and May.
Mario Pašalić played the final twenty minutes of Monaco’s 2-0 win at Lorient.
Italy
Udinese lost 4-0 to Juventus with Stipe Perica and Juan Cuadrado unused substitutes on their respective benches, whilst Nathaniel Chalobah missed Napoli’s win over Sassuolo to deal with a family matter.
Belgium
Cristian Cuevas played the duration of Sint-Truiden’s goalless draw at Charleroi on Saturday night but fellow Chelsea loanees Victorien Angban and Joao Rodriguez remained sidelined through injury. Cristian Manea continued his emergence into the Mouscron fold, however, playing the full ninety minutes at full-back in a 3-0 defeat at Club Brugge.
Scotland
Hibernian this week confirmed that Islam Feruz has returned to Chelsea after making just six substitute appearances in his stay at Easter Road.
Turkey
Marko Marin played 50 minutes for Trabzonspor in a 4-2 reversal at Bursaspor whilst Kenneth Omeruo played the full match in a defeat of his own; Kasimpasa losing 2-1 at home to Gaziantepspor.