Chelsea currently has 40 players on loan.GETTY IMAGES
A new FIFA law on loan deals "could force Chelsea to drastically change" the way it manages its squad, according to Robert Summerscales of the London DAILY MAIL. According to a report by Bild, FIFA "is planning to restrict the number of players sent out on loan to eight per season." Chelsea currently has 40 players "temporarily plying their trade elsewhere." The proposed limit would "chiefly apply to players over the age of 21, with homegrown youngsters exempt." Of Chelsea's 40 loanees, only 16 would currently count as homegrown youngsters, so the club would need to trim its number of other loanees from 24 to eight. Chelsea's business model in the transfer market "has long seen the club sign talented youngsters to loan them out," with the "long-term goal either being to prepare them" for the first team or "sell them for a healthy profit" (DAILY MAIL, 9/13). YAHOO's Hamish Williams reported Chelsea has "long been accused of signing footballers with huge potential to stop rivals from snapping them up," only to send them out on loan "before selling them for a profit." Juventus is "another major European side" that follows that model, "with 26 players leaving on short-term deals this season." FIFA President Gianni Infantino said, "It is important to establish a few rules as a limitation of squad sizes or the number of players out on loan" (YAHOO, 9/13).
