So you think it's better for Alena to play 400 minutes for our first team than 2.500 minutes for a team like Granada, Gijon,...? I don't. Yes, playing in different system that they are used to can be difficult and they need time to adapt but sometimes you need to go out of your comfort zone to improve and I also think that players we are really counting on for the future should play regular top level football when they are 19 or 20. Loans are not always perfect but we need to consider every player as individual case not just say "ah, previous loans didn't really work out so we shouldn't loan anyone ever again".
Recent loans:
- you mentioned Rafinha
- Bojan, Montoya and Tello were loaned because we didn't really count on them anymore, so it doesn't really matter how good loans worked for them
- Deulofeu was ok during his loan at Everton and later failed with Sevilla but at that time Lucho already decided that he won't count on Gerard so was it really important how he played at Sevilla? Even if he'd have a great season there he most likely wouldn't come back because Lucho didn't like what he saw from him in preseason he made with first team.
- Denis was also solid during his limited playing time at Sevilla and of course he was great for Villarreal (yes, I know he was sold with buy-back but we can also consider that as some sort of loan now that we got him back as much improved player)
- Halilović couldn't make it at Gijon despite strong connections betwen Abelardo and Barça/Lucho. I wouldn't consider his loan there as a total waste of time because he played well in first half of the season and I think he improved during that time but later didn't prove that. But can we really blame Abelardo or Gijon for that or maybe Alen just doesn't have enough work ethic, mentality,... to make a breakthrough at team like Gijon. And of course, if he can't make it there he wouldn't get playing time in Barça either. I still like Halilović and hope he can show enough improvement at HSV so we decide to bring him back but more I think the more it seems like [MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION] might be right about him.
- it's still to early to say how Samper and Munir loans will work out
Did I miss someone?
Did loans really influence on any of these players career negatively or would they still be part of our first team now had they stayed here in the past instead of going on loan (not counting Samper and Munir here because obviously they would be here now had they not go on loan this season but important thing is would they improve more staying in Barça than going on loan and it's too early to answer to that question)? I don't think so. If anything we could maybe argue that players like Montoya or Bartra would have bigger possibilities still being here had they go on loan when they were 20-22 instead of playing for Barça B and later not getting enough playing time because of worldclass players like Alves and Pique/Puyol/Abidal/Masche before them at their positions.
So again, loans are not always good but they can be if you find the right club/coach. Just because some previous loans didn't work out for different reasons doesn't mean that next loans won't be a success for our players. If Alena (and other youngsters) is as good as we hope he is, if he'll have right work ethic and mentality he can adapt to another system/team for a one or two year loan, get La Liga experience and return as improved player (like Denis) and then wait/fight for his playing time in Barça. I think he can improve much more that way than with playing in Segunda or Segunda B or by playing 500 minutes for our first team if he's promoted over the next year or two.
