Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard, Tottenham’s Harry Kane and the success of the loan system

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Jesse Lingard put on a starring role in Manchester United’s latest Premier League success over lowly Middlesbrough, bagging a wonderful long-range goal and linking up well with his forward, Marcus Rashford. He was a constant threat to the Middlesbrough defence, tormenting them with his mazy dribbles and smart movement, and proved his importance to the team in the absence of many first-team regulars like Ander Herrera and Paul Pogba. His Man of the Match display was by far, the best of his career in a Red Devils shirt, and showed why his loan spells at other clubs were so important in honing him and making him a vital part of the team.

Lingard is never likely to be a first-team regular at Manchester United, but the England international does have what it takes to cut it in the Premier League. He has always a confident athlete who does his best whenever he is called upon. The 24-year-old spent four stints out on loan while contracted to the Old Trafford outfit, with the most recent coming at Derby County after the winter transfer window ended in 2015. Prior to that, he spent complete seasons at Leicester City and Birmingham City as well as the first half of the 2013-14 campaign at Brighton and Hove Albion.

Loan spells are key in the development of young players, and can make or break their careers before they enter a crucial stage, at around the age of 22 or 23 years of age. Lingard’s loan spells started at the age of 19, and he would make 50 appearances across four stints, with a large majority of those games coming in the more competitive and rigid Championship.

The 2014-15 campaign was set to be his breakthrough year, but an injury against Swansea City on the first weekend of the season caused him to miss the rest of the first half of the campaign, and later forced Louis van Gaal to send him out temporarily. This was a key decision in his career, as Lingard would return better and be a part of the FA Cup winning team of the following campaign – scoring the winner in the final at Wembley.

Harry Kane is another beneficiary of this system. Now a full-fledged starter for Tottenham, the club he joined at the age of 11, he has spent time away at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City before coming back to Tottenham, and propelling them to high finishes – including automatic UEFA Champions League qualification last season, a feat which seems very likely to be repeated this season. His record since he became a first-team regular has been astounding – 83 goals in 129 appearances including 65 goals in 94 league games.

Kane and Lingard’s rise can be seen as proper examples for clubs that make frequent use of the loan system. Chelsea, in particular, have been blasted in recent years for loaning out several of their players for long periods with no guarantee of playing time in the future. However, what most people fail to see is the ages and the developmental stages those loaned-out players are at. The likes of Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Dominic Solanke are still relatively young (19, 21 and 19 respectively) and it seems very likely that they will spend a season or two away from the club once again. The Blues continuous success across the county’s youth competitions suggest that this trend is set to continue.

Manchester City are another with a host of bright talents such as Enes Ünal, Rubén Sobrino and Bruno Zuculini currently spending time away from the Etihad, and with all the resources they could have hoped for – including the right man at the helm to handle them, Pep Guardiola, who is arguably the best in the world at handling talent – they can be sure that their spells away will eventually be fruitful.

The system is often criticized but is very crucial to clubs and players for developing young footballers and making full use of academy work. Lingard and Kane are two prime examples that clubs and fans need to follow if they want to find beneficiaries of this system. For further proof, take a look at some previous heroes like Romelu Lukaku, whose stint at West Bromwich Albion created massive openings for him across the Premier League and David Beckham, who spent time at Preston North End before his rise to super-stardom at the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

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