While a lot of the focus at clubs during this time of the summer is centred around bringing in new recruits, there are also set to be plenty of players returning to parent sides who are on the periphery and unsure of what the future holds for them.
There are a number of these types of players in the Premier League. Some will be reporting back for pre-season on the back of strong spells plying their trade elsewhere and therefore hoping to stake a claim to feature next season. For others though, their moves elsewhere didn’t have the desired impact, throwing only further doubt over what the future holds.
With this in mind, Mirror Football has looked at 10 returning Premier League loanees who find themselves in an uncertain position ahead of next season.
Adama Traore - Wolves
It’s been a bizarre few years for Traore at Wolves. He moved to Molineux back in 2018 for a then club-record fee of £18m.
In the seasons since, consistency has been a huge problem for the 26-year-old who has regularly swung from being unplayable to non-existent, with very little in between. He underwhelmed on loan for the second half of the last season at Barcelona, failing to complete a single 90-minute match while registering just two assists.
The Jekyll and Hyde nature of his displays have seen him linked with big-money moves to the likes of Liverpool, while simultaneously being tipped to join teams such as Leeds. With reports suggesting Wolves are happy to sell, it’s more realistic to imagine he will end up playing at somewhere like the latter than former next season.
Patrick Cutrone - Wolves
Cutrone is another Wolves player likely to depart this summer. The club paid AC Milan £16m for the forward billed the “next Filippo Inzaghi” in 2019, however in that time he’s made just 28 appearances for the Premier League side, scoring three goals.
The last three years have seen loan moves to Fiorentina, Valencia and more recently Empoli where he bagged just three goals in 28 Serie A appearances. Wolves will no doubt look to cut their losses, though it seems very unlikely they’ll recover the £16m paid to bring him to the club.
Tanguy Ndombele - Tottenham
Ndombele re-joined Lyon on transfer deadline day of the January window and went on to record one goal and two assists in 15 appearances for the French club as they reached the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals but finished eighth in Ligue 1.
Included in the 25-year-old’s loan deal back to Lyon was an option to buy him for £55.5m, though the decision of manager Peter Bosz not to take up that offer perhaps speaks volumes.
On high wages and showing no promise of delivering on the initial £50m paid to bring him to the club, it’s fair to say that moving Ndombele on will be a priority for Tottenham this summer.
Emerson Palmieri - Chelsea
Another player who spent last season out on loan at Lyon was Chelsea ’s Emerson. The left-back was deemed surplus to requirements by Thomas Tuchel, with both Ben Chilwell and Marcos Alonso ahead of him in the Stamford Bridge pecking order.
The former’s serious knee injury nearly saw Emerson called back in January, though Lyon were reluctant to let that happen and he instead remained.
The 27-year-old actually proved to be one of their key players, making 29 league appearances and registering two assists. He’s unlikely to return however and could yet be handed another chance by Tuchel given Alonso is being tipped to leave, and Chilwell is still on the road to recovery.
Ethan Ampadu - Chelsea
The Welshman is still regarded as a top young central defender. However, it’s hard to ignore that each of his last two loan moves have ultimately resulted in relegation.
He was part of the Sheffield United side that went down from the Premier League in the 2020/21 campaign, and last season featured 30 times for Venezia who finished bottom of the Serie A table.
The 21-year-old’s form from a personal point of view was solid though and Chelsea’s lack of cover within central defence might mean he’s also presented with an opportunity to impress Tuchel over the course of pre-season.
Anthony Martial - Manchester United
Martial’s move to Sevilla last January was expected to kickstart his faltering career. Yet it didn’t pan out that way, he only played 90 minutes once, scored just one goal, and managed one assist.
His task wasn’t helped by injury issues, with Sevilla's Director Jose Maria Cruz stating at the end of the season, “Just when he began to get used to the coach's system he started to pick up injuries. He didn't get the run of games he wanted.”
Perhaps Sevilla would have been open to a second bite of the cherry if it wasn’t for Martial’s eye-watering £240,000-per-week wages. They’ve not got the funds to match or get even close to such a deal. United therefore look like they’re going to be back to square one with the forward this summer, unless Ten Hag can help him rediscover he best form.
Armando Broja - Chelsea
Last season proved to be somewhat of a breakout campaign for Broja. Down on the south coast, he put in an array of impressive displays and managed to net six league goals playing within a rather unremarkable Southampton attack.
There’s a chance the 20-year-old gets a run in the Chelsea side next season, especially given Romelu Lukaku’s departure, yet the more likely scenario is he’s sold with Newcastle and West Ham reportedly ready to submit concrete offers for the forward imminently.
Facundo Pellistri - Manchester United
It’s fair to say Pellistri arrived at Old Trafford as a bit of an unknown quantity, but those who watched him in South America were insistent that he was a player with plenty of potential.
He cost the Reds £9m but has so far yet to make a first-team appearance. Instead, Pellistri spent his first few months in Manchester playing for the club’s U23s before signing for Deportivo Alaves on a six-month loan.
The winger was loaned back to Deportivo Alaves again last summer for the full season, but struggled in his second stint there, accumulating just 758 of La Liga action. United won’t want to give up on him just yet, though a better-suited environment to go out on loan next season will be crucial.
Axel Tuanzebe - Man United
United still have obvious issues in defence, which makes the fact that Tuanzebe continues to be overlooked a concern from his perspective. The United academy graduate has failed to impose himself under any of the club's managers in recent years and has only played 37 senior games for them since 2017.
He’s instead spent several spells on loan at Aston Villa, playing 46 times for the club across three spells. The 24-year-old’s most recent stint there was cut short in January after he struggled to secure regular game time. His immediate move to Napoli also proved a disappointment, making just one Serie A appearance.
While Ten Hag will aim to provide a clean slate and assess all United’s players for himself, it’s tough to envisage Tuanzebe still being a Red beyond this summer.
Giovani Lo Celso - Tottenham
Spurs paid just over £27m to land Lo Celso from Real Betis back in January 2020 after he impressed during a season-long loan. It’s all been downhill from that point on though, with the 26-year-old struggling to forge himself a role within the Tottenham squad.
He did at least join Villarreal for the second half of last season and impressed with the Yellow Submarine, so much so that there are rumours they could make the move permanent this summer.
It’s unlikely Tottenham will get the original fee paid to land the midfielder, however, any recouped funds could go towards Antonio Conte’s transfer kitty for this summer.
