Chelsea forgotten man Lucas Piazon has launched a pretty scathing attack on the Blues during an interview with Maisfutebol, providing insight into just what it’s like to be stuck in the loan system.
It is hardly breaking news that Chelsea do not always have the players’ best interests at heart when negotiating loan moves with potential suitors. In many cases, the Blues are hoping to make a quick buck, a return on their initial investment.
We’ve seen it time and time again, and there have been success stories, such as Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah. They were all perhaps too good to fail. For many, however, their hopes of ever making it at the top-level fade further with every dead-end loan move.
One of those players is Brazilian Lucas Piazon. Signed from Sao Paulo in 2012, Piazon did look as though he had the talent to be the next big thing at Stamford Bridge. After just three first team appearances in eight years, and loans to seven different clubs, it appears his relationship with his parent club is at breaking point.
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Piazon is quoted in an interview with Maisfutebol saying:
“Well, after a certain point the connection is no longer beneficial for both parties. At the beginning I felt really good. I went through the under-23s, got to team A and even in the first loans I felt that Chelsea had expectations and interest in me.”
“I believed that I could come back and have opportunities at any time. Later, as time passed, I became just another business for them. They lent me with the expectation of selling me and making some money with me. I think that’s more or less what they think.”
“I have to accept, because I also agreed to renew my contract with them. I was told that they would only lend me if I renewed and I accepted. It was a complicated relationship. They often didn’t like what I said in the interviews, but I wanted to make it very clear that I was very happy in my early years at Chelsea.”
These comments certainly don’t reflect well on Chelsea and raise serious questions as to the ethics of their loan strategy. Although, if any club were interested in handing Piazon an escape route and an opportunity to settle permanently elsewhere – why is he still on Chelsea’s books?
Are the Blues in fact raising the profile of players such as Piazon whose careers have tailed off and giving them the chance to continue to compete at a high level, or are they in fact being held hostage?
Only those high-up at the Bridge would know for sure…