By Opta Analyst | Created at 2024-11-20 12:45:19 | Updated at 2024-11-21 11:20:06
22 hours ago
With so many players loaned out by Premier League teams in the summer, we take a look at those who are thriving at their home away from home.
Do you ever lend your neighbours anything?
Whether it be a ladder, lawnmower or wallpaper table, sharing with others is a part of life… unless they don’t return your things and then it can become something of an issue (Steve!).
Football is no different, but instead of ladders and lawnmowers, football clubs lend out players, and usually more for their own long-term gain rather than just to be nice.
This summer saw Premier League clubs loan out numerous players once again across the English football pyramid as well as into other leagues across the world, either to gain valuable first-team experience, much-needed game time, or simply to get them out of the way/off their books for the season.
We look at a selection of those players doing particularly well at their temporary homes this season. We’re more interested in those who are on loan in order to get first-team experience, so we’ve set the parameters at those aged 22 or younger.
Facundo Buonanotte
The Argentine teenager appears to be yet another example of Brighton & Hove Albion’s exemplary scouting talents, with the Seagulls having acquired him from Rosario Central in 2023.
Facundo Buonanotte is getting valuable Premier League experience at Leicester City this season, and has arguably been the Foxes’ standout player in 2024-25. Buonanotte has three goals and two assists to his name in 10 games and has created more chances both from open play (11) and overall (17) than any other Leicester player.
Only eight players in the Premier League have attempted more than his 43 dribbles, while just 12 have created more than his five ‘big chances’.
Still only 19 and seemingly at home in England’s top flight, don’t be surprised to see him integrated into Fabian Hürzeler’s already impressive side in 2025-26.
Andrey Santos
If you haven’t been loaned out by Chelsea at some point in your career, are you even a professional footballer?
Brazilian Andrey Santos is on his third loan spell away from Stamford Bridge, having spent time previously with Vasco da Gama and Nottingham Forest, though he only played twice for the latter. At Chelsea’s Ligue 1 sister club Strasbourg, he has excelled in the early months of the 2024-25 season.
Santos has an impressive five goals in 10 Ligue 1 games from midfield for Liam Rosenior’s men, with only six players having scored more. In addition, of midfielders in the French top flight who have played at least 400 minutes, no one has a better duel success rate than his 69.2%, while only 13 have more recoveries per 90 than his 6.3.
Rosenior recently said of the 20-year-old: “It’s a pleasure to work with Andrey Santos. He listens and has a great character… He has a good feel for shooting and being in the right place in the penalty area.”
There will always be plenty of competition for places at Chelsea, but Santos is making a good case for having a future in west London beyond this season.
Louie Barry
From Ligue 1 to League One, and former Barcelona youngster Louie Barry is having a solid season at Stockport County… again.
On loan from Aston Villa in League Two last season, Barry scored nine goals in 20 league games as Stockport won the title. Understandably, manager Dave Challinor jumped at the chance to bring him back this season.
Barry is thriving even more at a higher level, leading the League One scoring charts with 11 goals in 16 games, including a spectacular winner in Stockport’s victory over Wrexham last week.
As well as his goals, the 21-year-old is generally a big part of Stockport’s attacks. In fact, he has the most open-play attacking sequence involvements in League One this season (81), which are a sum total of shots, chances created and involvements in the build-up to a shot.
He has also attempted (73) and completed (35) the most dribbles in League One.
Whether Barry ultimately gets his chance at Villa remains to be seen, but he’s doing everything he can to prove himself to Unai Emery.
Ben Doak
There’s a wonderful certainty about players like Ben Doak. When they get the ball on the wing, you know a full-back is about to have their backtracking ability and balance tested.
Doak terrorised left-backs with regularity at youth level for Celtic before making the move to Liverpool in 2022. He has seen some first-team football at Anfield already, but was sent to Middlesbrough this summer by Arne Slot for some regular senior games, and it’s paying off.
He has a goal and three assists for Michael Carrick’s men in the Championship, while only five players in the division have created more than his 20 chances from open play. Of players to have played at least 540 minutes, Doak has the most attacking sequence involvements per 90 of anyone in England’s second tier (7.3), while nobody can match his 2.8 chances created per 90.
The 19-year-old also starred for Scotland in the last week, having more touches in the opposition box and creating more chances than any of his teammates in both UEFA Nations League wins over Croatia and Poland, also providing an assist for John McGinn against the latter.
Slot has already semi-joked about bringing him back from Middlesbrough early. With question marks about Mohamed Salah’s future, who knows? Next season could be an even bigger one for Doak back on Merseyside.
Joe Whitworth
Stepping back down to League One, we have the standout goalkeeper in England’s third tier this season.
Joe Whitworth – on loan from Crystal Palace – has been a key part of Exeter City’s early-season form that sees them boast the best defensive record in the division (10 goals conceded from 14 games).
The 20-year-old has kept nine clean sheets in 14 games for the Grecians and has a save percentage of 83.6%. Of goalkeepers in the top four tiers in England to have played at least three games this season, only Liverpool’s Alisson (88.2%) has a better save percentage.
His expected goals on target (xGOT) conceded figure suggests Whitworth should have conceded 15 goals this season based on the quality of shots he’s faced. With only 10 going past him, he has in theory prevented five more goals than your average goalkeeper would have been expected to. That’s more than any other League One stopper this season.
There has been little cheer at Selhurst Park this season, but Eagles fans can at least potentially look forward to having the goalkeeper position in rude health for years to come.
Tom Cannon
If you were writing a character for a comic book who was a striker, there’s a decent chance you’d call them ‘Tom Cannon’.
He’s not from The Beano (ask your parents), but Cannon is on loan from Leicester City and scoring goals for Stoke City.
It would be unfair to characterise him as ‘Cannon by name, cannon by nature’ as his finishing is also fairly refined, but the point is the former Everton youngster knows where the goal is.
Cannon has found the net six times in 11 games for the Potters, including a four-goal haul against Portsmouth in early October.
Only Borja Sainz (11), Josh Maja (9) and Haji Wright (7) have scored more goals in the Championship than Cannon this season, while he’s only one of four players in the second tier to have scored a hat-trick.
Cannon might want to spread his goals out a bit more, having scored two-thirds of them against Pompey, but that game gave an indication of the sort of talent he also showed during his half-season loan at Preston in 2022-23, when he scored eight goals in 20 appearances.
Callum Doyle
No stranger to an EFL loan, Callum Doyle is on his fourth temporary spell away from Manchester City.
He was promoted from League One with Sunderland in 2021-22, reached the Championship play-off final with Coventry City in 2022-23, and earned promotion to the Premier League with Leicester last season.
Norwich City were hoping that record of success would continue when they brought Doyle to Carrow Road in the summer on loan.
Playing predominantly at left-back, the 21-year-old has five assists in 15 Championship games, the joint-most in the division.
He’s also doing his job defensively, with only three players in the Championship making more interceptions than his 27.
Whether Doyle has a chance of breaking into Man City’s first team down the line will depend on several factors, but he already seems to be trusted as a more than steady hand in the Championship.
Máximo Perrone
It’s a big ask, but Máximo Perrone is a defensive midfielder whose parent club is Manchester City, so there’s a fairly obvious question to ask. Can he be the next Rodri?
That’s an unfair comparison for the 21-year-old Argentine, but you do wonder if City are semi-regretting loaning him to Serie A newcomers Como in the summer given Rodri’s apparent season-ending ACL injury.
Of midfielders who have featured for at least 400 minutes in Serie A this season, only 13 have won possession more times per 90 than Perrone (5.5), while just four have created more open-play chances per 90 (1.9).
If you’re going to represent City, though, you need to be able to pass the ball, a lot. Of midfielders who have featured for at least 400 minutes in Italy’s top flight this season, only Hakan Çalhanoglu (82.5) and Manuel Locatelli (78.4) have averaged more passes per 90 than Perrone (70.1), with the youngster completing a healthy 90.5% of them.
Shea Charles
A former Man City midfielder himself, Shea Charles might have been surprised to find himself sent out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday by Southampton in the summer. Russell Martin is also a big fan of tidy midfielders, and Charles certainly is that.
The Northern Ireland international played 33 Championship games for Saints last season as they ultimately secured promotion via the play-offs, with only three midfielders in the division (min. 15 appearances) averaging more passes per 90 than his 79.2, completing 89.5% of them.
Under Danny Röhl, Charles is having to adapt. The 21-year-old’s numbers have gone down to 35.7 passes per 90 and an accuracy of 79.7%.
This is obviously due to a significant change in style between the extremely possession-focused Southampton and the Owls, but it also means he’s developing the defensive side of his game.
Charles averaged 1.4 interceptions, 2.1 tackles and 6.0 recoveries last season, which have gone up to 1.8 interceptions, 3.2 tackles and 7.2 recoveries this season. Perhaps Saints will be getting a more well-rounded player back at the end of the campaign.
Dane Scarlett
It must be a lot of pressure when fans hope you’re the next Harry Kane, and it especially can’t help if your first name rhymes with the surname of the Tottenham legend.
The next Spurs strikers to come through the academy were always going to be on something of a hiding to nothing in terms of that inevitable comparison, but like Kane, Scarlett is being allowed to learn the ropes in the EFL.
The 20-year-old has had two previous loan spells, one at Portsmouth in 2022-23 where he scored four goals in 34 League One appearances (19 starts), then another at Ipswich Town that saw him get just 12 sub appearances in the Championship without scoring last season.
Scarlett’s time at Oxford United has been more promising, though. He already has three goals in 11 appearances (four starts) in the Championship, and capped off his recent form with a goal for England Under-21s in their 1-1 draw against the Netherlands on Monday.
He is providing a suitable alternative to U’s striker Mark Harris, and manager Des Buckingham has acknowledged that Scarlett is starting to give him a selection headache.
He’s started four of the last five games, and with three goals to his name already, Ange Postecoglou may be looking on with intrigue over the coming months.
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