Whats In A Loan?

Sky Sports Transfer Deadline Day.

With the slamming shut of Sky Sports' over-hyped Transfer Deadline Day and with the overly-excited Jim White now reduced to a mere sports news presenter again, clubs that hadn't splashed the cash on permanent signings faced backlash on social media from disgruntled fans. Fans which were annoyed at the thought of having to sign players in the emergency loan window and not securing those players' signatures on a permanent contract, made their feelings known on platforms such as twitter and Facebook. Those same fans which know nothing of the day-to-day running of their clubs and the finances that are available, or in most cases - not available.

Milan Mandaric.

Sheffield Wednesday have an owner that saved them from the brink of collapse, that in itself shows the depths of which this once great club had plunged. Milan Mandaric followed this by wiping out the clubs reported £41m debt (2011), improving the Youth Academy to a Grade 2 status and signing players such as Chris Kirkland, Reda Johnson, Anthony Gardner, Michail Antonio and more all the way up to the signing of USA international defender Oguchi Onyewu. Now whilst some of those commanded a transfer fee, all of them need wages and Mr Mandaric has the final say on who is signed and who is not (along with others including Paul Aldridge).

Being an avid twitter user I witnessed the amount of Owls fans that tweeted their anger at the lack of permanent deals when the deadline was due to pass, some criticising the club of 'lacking ambition' by only using the loan market to strengthen the team. Now, like other fans I like the immediate expectation and excitement a permanent signing can bring but when you have a chairman that openly admits to wanting to sell the club - after often using personal finances to fund it, he is not going to keep opening his cheque-book if he has plans to move on.

With the loan deals the club still has to pay a percentage of the incoming players wages and for a club with no money, this could prove difficult. If you had a business that was not making money (in fact, was losing money and you had to keep paying in personal funds to keep the business afloat) whilst trying to attract new owners, would you prefer to pay a subsidised wage of a player that belongs to another club - improving your own team in the meantime or part with more personal funds on a transfer fee and then pay the players full wage? Common sense suggests the previous. Milan Mandaric has been actively searching for new owners but will not leave the club with somebody who cannot take SWFC forward in terms of finance, a kind of golden goodbye gesture by the current owner.

Ben Marshall, the one that got away?

I can see the disgruntled fans view too though - they don't want to loan a player, improve him and then miss out on him when a club with funds purchases him or he goes on to feature for his parent club. The Owls have been left sore with these circumstances before, most recently players such as Ben Marshall who was deemed surplus to requirements at Stoke City and shipped out on loan to Northampton Town, Cheltenham Town and Carlisle United before finding his feet at Sheffield Wednesday. The loan deal reignited his career and after impressing then manager Gary Megson, the club tried to sign the player on a permanent deal only to be scuppered by Leicester City.

When the shoe is on the other foot though and it is Wednesday who are loaning players out only for them to return to the club a much improved player, those same fans do not blast the club for using the loan window then. Liam Palmer is now a player who earns his place on the team sheet, able to fill in anywhere down the right of the pitch but that wasn't always the case. Before his loan switch to Tranmere Rovers, Palmer was a fringe player at the club. Caolan Lavery was loaned to Plymouth Argyle as a promising talent and he made a big impression down at Home Park - returning as a new fan favourite and a player that will only improve from here. Would he be at the standing he is now without that loan to Plymouth or would he be turning out for the Development Squad still? Giles Coke and David Prutton returned from loans away much improved and now Wednesday have sent out England U19 goalkeeper Cameron Dawson to gain valuable experience.

More notable successful loan deals and good examples of the loan window are Danny Welbeck, Romelu Lukaku and Daniel Sturridge.

Welbeck now leads the line for MUFC.

Danny Welbeck: Loaned to Sunderland as a player that couldn't get a game for Manchester United and further down the pecking order than Federico Macheda. A successful loan to the Black Cats and first team football allowed Welbeck to flourish and is now a regular for Manchester United whilst Macheda has since been sent on loan to Doncaster Rovers and Birmingham City.

Romelu Lukaku: A big money buy for Chelsea (£17m from Anderlecht) but lacking the experience of English football. The powerful forward was promptly loaned to West Bromwich Albion and the Belgium powerhouse flourished, scoring goals for fun and looked set for a bright future at Chelsea. An apparent fall out with the excellent but ego-maniacal Jose Mourinho saw Lukaku loaned to Everton for the 2013/14 season but the Toffee's know they have a bright player on their books for the current campaign. 

Liverpool's lively Sturridge owes Bolton Wanderers.

Daniel Sturridge: Unable to get first team football at Chelsea, Sturridge was loaned to Bolton Wanderers in order to prove his worth and the young England forward did not pass up the opportunity - scoring eight goals in twelve appearances and earning an international call-up whilst at the Reebok. Again unable to force his way into the superstar-studded Chelsea team, Sturridge was then sold to Liverpool where he has again flourished and will represent his country in the World Cup.

When Milan Mandaric finds a suitable candidate to take on the club and fund the team, the management team will still utilise the loan system - but will have learned from deals such as the Ben Marshall one and attempt to insert 'with a view to permanent deal' clauses. These clauses see the club improve their team on a short-term basis with the loan player whilst paying a percentage of their wage, then when the time comes for the player to return to his parent club - the Owls can activate the clause to be first option when the parent club sell. Some of these deals already have the transfer fee included so that should the loan be successful, the fee doesn't alter. If the player does not have a successful loan then he returns to the parent club and no fee is paid, saving the club money.

Former Watford FC manager, Gianfranco Zola.

In conclusion I am a huge supporter of the loan system - when used fairly. The bending of the rules by Watford in the 2012/13 season left a sour taste in plenty of clubs and fans mouths when the Hornets brought in 14 players on season long loans, 12 coming from Watford owners other owned clubs. When loopholes aren't exploited the loan system is beneficial to everybody. Whether a club is sending their talent to other clubs temporarily to gain experience, whether they are sending players with no future at the club to earn a move away or whether a club is loaning in those players - temporarily improving their team without the financial losses of a transfer fee and 100% wages.


From a Sheffield Wednesday point of view - look at these names and tell me the loan system is detrimental to our club: Ross Barkley, Connor Wickham, Matty Fryatt, Ben Marshall, Michail Antonio, Danny Batth, Stephen Bywater, Rob Jones, Leroy Lita and Nicky Weaver. That is just a few. Then imagine if instead of the loan window we made the permanent transfers of such players as Jay Bothroyd, John Bostock, Adam Green, Steve Howard and Joey O'Brian. The loan system is ideal for a club in our position.



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