Saul Niguez’s awful Chelsea stint and the worst loan transfers of all time

Saul Niguez has returned to Atletico Madrid as his season-long loan spell at Chelsea officially ended and it was bad, to say the least.

The Spanish midfielder arrived last summer as a marquee signing with high hopes of earning a permanent deal as negotiated but he underperformed so dramatically that it became obvious his Chelsea stint would be brief.

Saul played 23 games for Chelsea, only starting 12 of those and never looking like he was at the level required to play for the club.

With only a goal and an assist to show for his time in West London, Saul’s loan was an unmitigated disaster, here are 5 other Premier League loan deals in no particular order that worked out just as bad or even worse.

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What’s worse than a one-year loan deal that flopped? A one-year loan deal that flopped twice at two different clubs.

Radamel Falcao came to England with a big reputation but only managed five goals in two seasons, one each for Manchester United and Chelsea who both opted against signing the Colombian striker.

German winger Serge Gnabry is currently one of the best in the world at his position but he once famously struggled on loan at West Brom.

Gnabry joined West Brom as a teenager on a season-long loan from Arsenal at the start of the 2015/16 season but didn’t even make it to the end.

The 19-year old was publicly criticised by head coach Tony Pulis as "not at the required level" and only played 3 games in six months after which he was prematurely recalled by Arsenal.

You know how they say a cold night in Stoke is the true judge of a player’s ability, Jese Rodriguez found out the hard way and his career hasn’t recovered since. 

Fresh off spells with Real Madrid and PSG, the Spanish forward arrived in Stoke with hopes of rekindling his career but only managed 13 games and scored one goal.

Hailed as the next big football prodigy and having earned a big-money move to Bayern Munich as a teenager, Renato Sanches joined Swansea City in 2017 on loan in search of game time.

But the young Portuguese midfielder would only manage 12 Premier League games before returning to Bayern Munich at the end of his loan.

It remains a mystery to this day why Chelsea opted to sign Brazilian striker, Alexandre Pato (who was already considered a flop at the time) on a midseason loan from Corinthians but they did.

Pato joined in January 2016 but didn’t play for the club till April due to injuries and ended his short stint with two appearances and one goal.