6 brilliant players who revived their careers with successful loan spells
Some of the biggest names in world football have had to take their talents away from their parent clubs for short periods in order to find their footing again.
It’s a benefit for both the player and the club they find themselves at when they find form in new surroundings.
Here, we have looked into six players who have turned things around as a result of a successful loan spell.
Jesse Lingard
Lingard’s loan spell with West Ham is perhaps the most famous in the recent years of the Premier League.
The attacking midfielder turned into prime Neymar for six months of the 2020-21 season.
Lingard had scored just one Premier League goal the season prior to his loan, and had played no league football for United in the first half of the season.
Yet he showed them what they were missing with several scintillating displays, on the road to nine goals and four assists in 16 Premier League games for the Hammers, including a run of seven games in which he was directly involved in 10 goals.
West Ham naturally wanted to bring him back permanently, and it’s a crying shame we never got to see what would have happened had Lingard been able to make that move.
Antony
Only one player in United’s history cost more than £86million winger Antony, and few have stunk up the gaff more than him.
Indeed, 17 direct goal contributions in 96 games is not the story most footballers would like to follow such a high-value transfer.
But Antony’s story is not finished, with a move to Real Betis breathing life back into the Brazilian.
In his first four games, he notched two goals and two assists, with manager Manuel Pellegrini telling Estadio Deportivo that Antony is fuelled by “revenge”.
Getting away from the pressures of Old Trafford seems to be what he needed to show he is actually capable of big things.
Trevoh Chalobah
Chalobah has spent a lot of time on the sidelines at Chelsea in recent seasons.
In 2022-23, the centre-back started just 18 Premier League games, not fancied as a regular by management, and injuries meant he was only able to play 13 games the following campaign.
At the start of 2024-25, he was sent to Crystal Palace on a season-long loan, and started almost every game, scoring three times and only losing three games.
In January, Chelsea triggered his recall and Chalobah played the full 90 minutes in four of his first five games back – including a top display in which he assisted a goal in the first of those.
He’s seemingly shown that he’s ready to cement his status as a Blues regular.
Yan Couto
Couto signed for City in 2020, but never played a game for them, only making the squad once, for the Community Shield in 2021-22.
His first loan, with Braga in 2022-23, showed him to be a useful asset, achieving one goal and four assists, but he truly took off when moving to Girona the following season.
Couto netted three goals and 12 assists from right-back, and helped his side to an unexpected third-placed finish in La Liga, just four points behind juggernauts Barcelona in second.
The full-back might never have gotten a chance at City, but his loan at Girona proved he’s a phenomenal asset, and he was rewarded with another loan, this time to Borussia Dortmund, as a result.
Gareth Bale
Yes, Tottenham waited seven years to replace Gareth Bale and replaced him with… Gareth Bale.
Yes, he won five Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles in his time at Madrid, but the Welshman’s career declined towards the end of his spell there and that is what many would have remembered had he not made a change.
In 2019-20, Bale scored just three goals in all competitions and was not given much backing at Madrid.
A move back to Tottenham, where he first exploded, saw the winger turn back towards the player he was when he left.
Bale netted 16 goals and chipped in with three assists in 34 games over the course of a season with Spurs.
Did much come of his career after that? No, he went to the MLS and then retired not long after, but his career could have faded out after Madrid.
At least Bale got to feel the adoration of Tottenham fans once more and was able to show he did still have it, before giving up for good.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Famously not on particularly good terms with Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, even after a season in which he bagged 21 goals in all competitions, Ibrahimovic’s career could have stagnated had he not performed on his loan to AC Milan in 2010-11.
But in one term on loan at the San Siro, the Swedish icon netted 21 goals and provided 12 assists – most of those helping towards a title-winning campaign in Serie A.
The tally could have been higher had he not gotten suspended at the back end of the campaign.
That one season was perhaps the catalyst for the positives that came from his career, as he was then signed by Milan permanently, and had what would then become one of the best seasons of his career.
The love he and Milan had for each other saw Ibrahimovic return at the back end of his career as a player – after successful spells with PSG, Manchester United and LA Galaxy – and take on an advisor role with them following his retirement.