Lucas Piazon hits out at Chelsea loan system after finally earning permanent exit

Lucas Piazon File Photo
PA
Alex Young @alexwsyoung21 January 2021

Former Chelsea playmaker Lucas Piazon has accused the Blues of not giving him a proper chance and keeping him in the dark over his future.

Piazon made just three senior appearances for the Blues in nine years and was technically their longest-serving player before joining Portuguese club Braga on a four-year deal last week.

The Brazilian, who is still just 26, was sent on no fewer than seven different loans in six different countries and had to adapt to a variety of new clubs and leagues, as well as contending with Chelsea’s churn of head coaches whenever he returned to London.

"To be honest, we would come back and we would go to pre-season with the new coach and the new players were coming in from the summer and they were always like, ‘if you do well the coach might keep you’," Piazon told Oh My Goal on Instagram. 

"But deep down inside we knew that we didn't have a chance because they were paying big money for the players and the club would definitely use them. We knew that we would be there for three, four or five weeks and they would then try to send us out on loan again.

"In the beginning I felt like Chelsea really wanted me and really wanted me to do well and come back. 

"But after the third or fourth loan, I knew it was just maybe business. [It was] like 'you go into the world and someone will buy you and you will be happy about – you're not going to play here anymore’.

“When I went from Holland to Germany, it was a completely different world because the German league is totally different from the Dutch league,” he added. "The team I was playing for in Holland was totally different from the team I was playing for in Germany.

"The way they wanted to play, what the coach wanted from me in one place and what the coach wanted from me in the other place – it took time to adapt and to adjust to what he wants and what the team wants.

"Maybe if I stayed in Germany I would've done a better job because it was a big change you know. It's always a big change and it takes time you know. You have to be patient but when you're on loan there is no patience.

"The pressure on you to perform is huge because you are from Chelsea.'

Getty Images

Piazon most successful loan came at Chelsea’s London rivals Fulham for two years from summer 2016 and he helped the club to promotion to the Premier League at the end of the 2017-18 season.

He was again left frustrated at being denied a permanent move to the Cottage and an explanation as to why from the clubs.

“I was sure that I was going to stay there,” he said. "I had two great seasons there and I loved the club. I loved the group – we had two amazing years together and in my mind, I was definitely going to go there.

"I still don't know [what happened]. We had another player from Chelsea there called Thomas Kalas. He also didn't stay. Until now we still don't know if the offer that Fulham made Chelsea was enough or if Fulham even made an offer for us.

“That was tough because I spent two years there and I had a great connection with the club, with the fans and not being able to stay there in the Premier League was frustrating.”

“It was tough to be honest but I don't regret it,” he added. "I don't regret going to Spain at that age, going to Holland, going to Germany. It was good experience and I played in the top leagues. I enjoyed it.

“Of course it would be better to be in one place.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in