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With just 5 weeks of 2018 left, the 2018/19 season is almost at its halfway point, and with that in mind, the January transfer window is just around the corner. Big money moves in January are relatively rare, particularly in the Premier League, but loan moves for players who might not have been seeing much action since the summer tend to be more common.
The following 5 players have a lot to offer – but their current clubs for various reasons simply don’t seem to want to use them. Loan moves in January would be ideal for them to be able to kickstart their season, and hopefully, show their parent club what they’re missing.
Here are 5 Premier League players who could do with a loan in January.
#1 Dominic Solanke
Young England striker Solanke famously moved from Chelsea to Liverpool in the summer of 2017, feeling he’d have more of a chance at first-team football at Anfield, but that hasn’t quite panned out. Solanke was praised by Jurgen Klopp initially and then played 21 times for the Reds in the Premier League in 2017/18 – mostly from the bench – scoring 1 goal.
Unfortunately for Solanke, if he thought he’d be given more opportunities this season, he was sorely mistaken. Thus far in 2018/19, he hasn’t kicked a ball for Liverpool – not even in the Carabao Cup. It’s understandable that Solanke would be behind Liverpool’s deadly front trio of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino in the pecking order, but he also appears to have fallen back behind veteran Daniel Sturridge now too.
Current reports suggest Solanke may find opportunities in the New Year with Sturridge potentially looking at a suspension due to his FA misconduct charge surrounding betting, but even then, he’s probably going to be relying on an injury to one of the other three strikers for first-team football.
A loan might be more productive – particularly as his performances for England’s u21 side suggest he hasn’t lost his touch for goals; he’s scored 5 in his last 4 games for them this season. If he can’t get a move to another Premier League side, then perhaps an often-rumoured move to Rangers would work, where he’d hook up with former Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.
#2 Matteo Darmian
Italian full-back Matteo Darmian has felt like the odd man out at Manchester United for some time now – essentially dating back to the beginning of Jose Mourinho’s second season at Old Trafford – and despite playing the full 90 minutes in United’s first league game against Leicester back in August, he’s once again gone missing in action for the Red Devils, having not kicked a ball since.
Current reports suggest that despite his lack of game time, Jose Mourinho wants to keep Darmian at Old Trafford to act as cover for his first choice full-backs, but at 28 years old the Italian international simply needs far more than that for his career to progress.
A permanent move – most likely back to Serie A – was mooted in the summer but never panned out, and while the same has been spoken about for January, with United not wanting him to leave for a smaller fee, that could prove impossible. So why not attempt to get a loan move back to Italy instead?
Napoli were apparently his closest suitors in the summer, and with the Italian club still hoping to progress in the Champions League, they could do worse than to sign a player who was once compared to Paolo Maldini with a view to making his move permanent in the summer of 2019.
#3 Callum Hudson-Odoi
Maurizio Sarri might’ve worked wonders in terms of helping Chelsea find their form again this season – the Blues are still unbeaten in all of the competitions they’re involved with – but one thing he, unfortunately, hasn’t done is give a lot of game time to the impressive young players that they have on their books. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been the highest profile example of this, but recently he has been used in the first team, whereas the younger Callum Hudson-Odoi has just 36 minutes to his name thus far.
While Chelsea do have excellent wide forwards in the form of Pedro, Willian and Eden Hazard, it also seems strange that Hudson-Odoi hasn’t been given a chance even in the Carabao Cup. After all, the England youngster was outstanding in Chelsea’s pre-season games, hurting teams like Inter Milan with his dribbling skills, and he was even given a start against Manchester City in the Community Shield before largely vanishing.
Time is undoubtedly on Hudson-Odoi’s side – he’s only 18 years old and is clearly very raw despite his massive potential – but to get first-team football at this stage in his career would benefit him hugely, and you would assume it would benefit Chelsea too to have a more experienced version of the player on their books for next season.
Fellow young English wingers Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson have found success by going abroad to the Bundesliga – Nelson on loan too – so Hudson-Odoi could well do worse than to seek a move to foreign shores too. That could also suit Chelsea too, as they wouldn’t have to fear their own player helping a Premier League rival.
#4 Eddie Nketiah
Coming into 2018/19, there was somewhat of a buzz around three English youngsters plying their trade at Arsenal – Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah. Nelson, of course, made a loan move to German side Hoffenheim in the summer, and he’s proven to be a Bundesliga hit since – scoring 6 goals thus far. Smith Rowe meanwhile has played 5 games for Arsenal’s first team in the Carabao Cup and Europa League and has 2 goals.
Nketiah, however, has yet to play a game for the Gunners this season, which is surprising given the way he started his Arsenal career in 2017/18 – with a brace against Norwich in the EFL Cup which was followed by a handful of cameo appearances in the Premier League.
Whether this is simply down to the form of the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alex Iwobi, or perhaps down to an issue between Nketiah and new Arsenal boss Unai Emery is largely unknown, but Nketiah is a fantastic prospect and the lack of football that he’s experiencing right now is only going to stunt his development.
Like his teammate Nelson, Nketiah could well benefit from a loan move abroad, but if that isn’t possible then there simply has to be a Championship or even a League One club who would love to have a young striker of his calibre for the remainder of 2018/19. Hopefully, he can find himself a move in January so that his development can continue away from the Emirates.
#5 Kieran Dowell
One of the stars of England’s 2017 u20 World Cup winning side, Kieran Dowell moved to Nottingham Forest for a season-long loan in 2017/18 and subsequently made 38 appearances in the Championship, scoring 9 goals and assisting in 4. Dowell moved back to his parent club Everton for the beginning of 2018/19, but despite a bright pre-season, he has yet to make a Premier League appearance thus far, only having minutes in the Carabao Cup to his name.
Like his England u21 teammate Dominic Solanke, the attacking midfielder has displayed good performances on international duty, but he simply cannot break into Everton’s first team, unlike fellow youngsters Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Tom Davies.
Most likely this is down to the amount of options that Marco Silva has in his midfield – the Portuguese boss can call upon the talents of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Bernard and Andre Gomes in the positions that Dowell favours, meaning chances for him at Goodison Park are likely to be few and far between. But at 21, Everton may not want to cut him loose entirely just yet.
That’s why a loan move – perhaps to another Premier League side – might suit him best. A struggling side like Cardiff or Newcastle could certainly use a young player with Dowell’s talents, and it’d give Everton an excellent opportunity to see how he handles life at the top level. If he wants to progress at his age, first-team football is a must – and come January Dowell needs to look elsewhere for it.
