To fans in Spain, the story is a familiar one. A player goes on loan to a smaller club and when the two sides meet he turns in the performance of his career to embarrass his erstwhile employers.
Manchester United have been cleared of any wrongdoing after their former goalkeeper Tim Howard missed Everton’s recent game against them. The Premier League is satisfied there was no deal between the clubs to stop him playing.
If Howard had still been on loan at Everton (the deal became permanent in February) Premier League rules would have prevented him from playing. That’s not the case in La Liga, where notably Real Madrid have often been left red-faced by such situations.
Samuel Etoo was the bane of Real lives when he played against them while on loan at Real Mallorca. Fernando Morientes memorably cost them a place in the Champions League semi-finals when he returned to the Bernabeu in Monaco colours in 2004. It seemed, in fact, that every time a former player of theirs returned to the Bernabeu they played out of their skins.
It will be no surprise to learn that Real have now inserted clauses into their loan deals preventing this from happening. But are clubs right to incorporate these ‘exclusion clauses’ into their contracts? Aren’t these scenarios the ones that make football so enjoyable to watch? If football feels at times like a soap opera, are we taking out the spiciest drama?
Simon Baskett is a Reuters sports correspondent based in Madrid
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6 comments so far
They should go back to the days when loans between clubs in the same division weren’t allowed. Then this sort of thing wouldn’t crop up.
- Posted by LondonIf the player and the 2 clubs involved agree to that clause, I don’t see why not?
- Posted by Five TimesUnlike Real Madrid, Barcelona tend not to insert such exclusion clauses into the contracts of players they loan out to other clubs. Their reasoning is that such arrangements undermine the club’s reputation.
- Posted by Simon BaskettOn the other hand they did seek to avoid any potential embarrassing situations close to home when they stopped Javier Saviola going out on loan to city rivals Espanyol last season and preferred to send him further afield to Sevilla.
The Dutch league allows on-loan players to play against the teams that have loaned them out. It’s definitely exciting, although pisses me off on Football Manager when one of young prospects I’ve loaned out beats my Ajax team.
- Posted by David KeyesWatching Etoo tear Real Madrid apart every time he played them really was funny. Do you know why Real kicked him out in the first place? Because they wanted Pedro Munitis instead! Munitis is currently residing in the “where are they now?” file…
- Posted by jonboyThe big clubs in England have far too much power over the smaller ones. Their squads are so big, with players from all over the world even in their youth or reserve teams, that they obviously need to send some of them out on loan. But if they then prevent smaller clubs picking their loaned players to play against them it’s a simple abuse of power.
- Posted by Ted