Chelsea one transfer away from dream Mauricio Pochettino scenario as next move ready

Six months into the season and three players Chelsea signed in the past 12 months are set to return to the club from unsuccessful loans. Two of them have already had their temporary deals ended with another set for termination.

Having taken up the seven international loan spots with three players that are not in the long-term plans at the club there are questions to be asked of the methods used this season. Hakim Ziyech, Romelu Lukaku and Kepa Arrizabalaga all exited as the can was kicked down the road over their futures.

Meanwhile, of the remaining four, one has returned and gone elsewhere — David Datro Fofana to Burnley from Berlin via Cobham (services?) — and another is ready to come back. It has been reported in France that Diego Moreira will see his time in France cut short having played less than 500 minutes at Lyon.

It isn't a great look considering just how valuable these international loans are. The rules around international loans are becoming stricter by the year and effectively wasting six months of a players development — at the expense of someone else — is not wise. Considering that the recruitment strategy with most of these situations is to eventually flip them for profit, it also hasn't worked out economically.

For Moreira to not get much of a look in at a struggling side — 18th in the league — it is not great optically that he started five games in all competitions. He failed to score or assist in that time too.

Chelsea's decision to send him there late on in the summer window can be just as much to blame as his own personal performances. The Blues waited throughout the summer with Moreira being analysed — not something Mauricio Pochettino would be doing in ideal circumstances — and chose an unstable club