There are upsides and downsides to signing a player on loan. If the player performs well on loan, then the club he was on loan at may be keen on signing him permanently or his parent club will be hoping that the player can replicate his good form for them.
On the other hand, if the player doesn’t perform well, then the club he was on loan at will have avoided a bullet but his parent club will have an uphill task to get a good transfer fee.
In most cases, a player goes out on loan so that he can get regular playing time elsewhere. In some instances, players are sent out on loan so that they can get the necessary work permit and then there are also cases where players are loaned in to avoid FFP sanctions.
PSG loaned in Kylian Mbappe last summer and Serge Aurier a few seasons before that to ensure that they didn’t break any rules. They had a clause to buy both players permanently a year after they were signed on loan.
A plethora of top players have moved clubs on loan this summer and Sergio Rico is our pick of the best goalkeeper out of XI of such players.
Sergio Rico is a graduate of the Sevilla academy that has produced many Spanish internationals over the years including Sergio Ramos.
The Spaniard broke into the Sevilla first team in 2014 after injuries to the first and second choice goalkeepers forced him into action. He quickly established himself as the club’s first choice goalkeeper and played 169 games by the end of the 2017/18 season while also winning the Europa League twice.
During this period, the 24-year-old was also capped at the senior level by Spain.
Last season, Rico fell out with then manager Vincenzo Montella after some high-profile mistakes which also enraged the fans. He was subsequently dropped to bench towards the tail end of the season.
Sevilla signed FC Basel’s goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík in the summer and as a result, agreed to loan Rico out to Fulham on the Premier League deadline day.