As it is every year, the summer transfer window was a busy period for Chelsea.
In addition to selling a host of players, the Blues also added an array of incredibly exciting youngsters to Enzo Maresca’s side.
However, while most of the window was a success, fans might have been a bit underwhelmed on deadline day, as the club recalled Marc Guiu, sent Nicolas Jackson out on loan, and paid £2m to sign Facundo Buonanotte on a season-long loan.
It feels like an odd choice as there is no option to buy; he was set to join relegation battlers Leeds United before the Blues came in, and yet they’ve left him out of the Champions League squad, alongside the likes of Raheem Sterling and Axel Disasi, despite him making it very clear that playing in Europe was one of his reasons for joining.
It just feels like a move that is destined to fail, and if the club’s previous five loan signings are anything to go by, it will.
5 Gonzalo Higuaín
The first name on our list takes us back to January 2019, when Maurizio Sarri needed some more firepower in his side, and Chelsea signed Gonzalo Higuaín to provide it.
The club had a buy option worth £31.3m included in the deal, as well as another option worth just £15.6m to extend the loan until June 2020.
Unfortunately, neither option was even in danger of being activated, as the Argentinian offered very little in attack.
In all, the former Juventus star made 18 appearances for the club, totalling 1,313 minutes, in which he scored just five goals against weaker opposition, such as Huddersfield, Burnley, and Watford.
4 Saúl Ñíguez
Moving into the midfield now, and on September 1st, 2021, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea signed Saúl Ñíguez on a season-long loan for £3.4m with a £30m option to buy.
There was considerable excitement surrounding this deal, as the previous season saw him make 41 appearances for Atlético Madrid, who won La Liga.
Unfortunately, he is on this list, and that means it didn’t work out for him.
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The Spanish international would make just 23 appearances for the club, scoring one goal before he returned to Spain in the summer.
3 Denis Zakaria
Thomas Tuchel was still in charge in September 2022 and oversaw the signing of Denis Zakaria on a season-long deal with an option to buy, although it’s unclear for how much.
It didn’t really matter, though, as the “absolute machine,” as hailed by his former Servette coach Adam Owen, made even less of an impact than loan players before him.
Despite being at the club for the entire season, the Swiss international made just 11 appearances, totalling 600 minutes, in which he scored a single goal.
Even for this list, Zakaria’s loan spell was remarkably unremarkable.
2 João Félix
A player who had a little more of an impact in West London was João Félix, who first moved to Graham Potter’s Chelsea on a short-term loan in January 2023, for a fee of around £9.69m.
The Portuguese ace had a debut to remember, away to Fulham, as he was shown a straight red for a terrible tackle in the 58th minute.
The versatile international would leave West London – for the first time – with a tally of just four goals and no assists to his name in 20 appearances.
1 Jadon Sancho
Last but certainly not least, we come to the most disappointing player on this list of disappointments: Jadon Sancho.
The Manchester United player joined the Blues on a season-long deal last summer that included an obligation to buy for between £20m and £25m.
However, as you are no doubt aware, the Englishman is now plying his trade at Aston Villa, and the reason for that is that the West Londoners decided to pay a £5m fee to United this summer to avoid taking him on permanently.
Appearances
41
Minutes
2419′
Goals
5
Assists
10
Goal Involvements per Match
0.36
Minutes per Goal Involvement
161.26;
That alone should probably tell you how successful the 25-year-old’s spell at Stamford Bridge was, as while he racked up a decent enough tally of five goals and ten assists, he did so in 41 games, with a sizable chunk coming in the Conference League.
Ultimately, Chelsea’s recent record with loan deals is not great, and while it’s unlikely to significantly impact the club, we cannot see Buonanotte having a great time in West London this season.