Every PL team's best ever loan signing 😍 | OneFootball

Two of the Premier League’s biggest clubs — Manchester United and Chelsea — have dipped into the loan market to try and aid their seasons.

Sometimes that really doesn’t work out but when it does, it can be a huge and inexpensive win for a club.

With Wout Weghost and João Félix on their ways to Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge respectively, who are the best ever loan signings each Premier League club has ever made?

Arsenal: Martin Ødegaard

Honourable mentions for Yossi Benayoun and Thierry Henry but no Arsenal loan deal has paid dividends like Martin Ødegaard, who spent the second half of the 2020/21 season with the club.

Some fine performances, including a north London derby goal, and his situation at Real Madrid led to a permanent move. Just 18 months on from that, he’s club captain and enjoying a superb season.

Aston Villa: Tyrone Mings

Mings helped Villa to promotion in the Championship in 2019, then stuck around for their Premier League adventure.

Though playing time has been less guaranteed lately, the man-mountain defender has been integral in Villa re-establishing themselves as a top flight outfit, earning himself 17 England caps along the way as well.

Bournemouth: Harry Wilson

Wilson’s sole season as a Premier League regular to date saw him score seven times for Bournemouth in 2019/20, just one less than top scorer Callum Wilson.

It wasn’t enough to keep the Cherries up and he caught some stick for wearing a Liverpool (his parent club) coat during a game between the clubs but let’s overlook that and we can all agree it was a successful move down south.

Brentford: Sergi Canós

A word for Marcello Trotta, who took a penalty he wasn’t supposed to take and cost Brentford promotion by missing during his first spell, then returned against the fans’ wishes the following season and scored 13 goals to make up for it and earn the Bees a place in the Championship. A real Hollywood tale.

Anyway, he’s pipped by Canós, who impressed with seven goals in west London on loan from Liverpool in the 2015/16 season and returned on a permanent deal in the summer of 2017 and is still an important member of the squad.

Brighton: Aaron Mooy

Brighton have not tended to go down the loan route much of late, making Mooy an obvious choice, even if he was signed with a view to a permanent deal from the off.

Chelsea: George Weah

Chelsea’s cash-rich era brought the likes of Ricardo Quaresma, Radamel Falcao, Gonzalo Higuaín and Saúl to the Bridge on loan. The less said about them, the better. Denis Zakaria is slowly finding his feet now but hasn’t been a huge hit.

No, let us go all the way back to 2000 and 33-year-old, one-time Ballon d’Or winner George Weah arrived from Milan, scored five times, and helped the Blues win the FA Cup.

Crystal Palace: Mamadou Sakho

Palace without Sakho in 2016/17: 23 games, 19 points, two clean sheets.

Palace with Sakho in 2016/17: 15 games, 22 points, five clean sheets.

He was even nominated for Premier League Player of the Month for March 2017. No wonder the Eagles agreed to pay Liverpool £24m to make the deal permanent.

Everton: Romelu Lukaku

Another whose switch was made permanent, Lukaku’s 15 goals in 31 Premier League games while on loan helped Everton finish fifth in 2013/14. They’ve only finished higher once since 1988.

Lukaku joined on a full-time basis for a club record £28m and scored a total of 87 goals in 166 games for the Toffees before Manchester United paid an initial £75m for him in 2017.

Fulham: Joachim Andersen

Fulham are a tricky one. German right-backs Moritz Volz and Sascha Riether eventually made permanent moves and became cult heroes.

But has any loanee ever been as consistently excellent as Joachim Andersen was for them during the 2020/21 season?

Leeds: Ben White

It’s hard to look past Robbie Keane’s move from Inter in 2001, where he scored nine in 18 league games to earn a permanent move. But, as that didn’t really work out, we will.

Before his move to Arsenal, Ben White was integral on loan at Leeds as they won the Championship, fitting Marcelo Bielsa’s ideals for a centre-back perfectly.

Leicester: Robert Huth

Of all that magic that surrounds Leicester’s 2015/16 campaign, and their great escape the previous season, it is sometimes lost that things started to turn around when Huth arrived on loan from Stoke.

After helping the Foxes stay up, he stuck around to become a Premier League winner for the third time, having been at Chelsea when they won titles in 2005 and 2006.

Liverpool Javier Mascherano

Nicolas Anelka is worthy of a mention here but the Premier League has rarely had any move work out as well as Mascherano to Liverpool, as the Argentine earned a permanent switch before going on to prove himself as one of the world’s finest defensive midfielders.

Man City: Marc-Vivien Foé

Let’s say Frank Lampard — controversially signed, not even really on loan, from sister club New York City FC immediately after joining them — doesn’t count. Then Foé becomes the clear answer.

The Cameroonian joined from Lyon, with City paying a £550,000 loan fee, and was prolific from midfield, scoring nine times as City finished ninth in the league. They only finished higher in the top flight once between 1992 and 2009.

Man Utd: Henrik Larsson

Wout Weghorst is set to follow a string of strikers — Odion Ighalo, Carlos Tevez, Radamel Falcao — who came and left with mixed results. The best by far, Tevez, was a big hit and joined permanently before upsetting fans by joining Manchester City.

The most fondly remembered of the lot was Henrik Larsson, whose quality even at 35 quickly won over the demanding Old Trafford crowd.

Newcastle United: Joe Willock

Going way back, Sylvain Distin is a contender. More recently, Mikel Merino stands out. But Joe Willock has to be the answer here.

Breaking records during his loan spell — Willock became the youngest ever player to score in six consecutive Premier League games — he earned a permanent move and remains a regular with the Magpies flying high.

Nottingham Forest: James Garner

Forest have had so many loan deals down the years – maybe Renan Lodi can stake a claim as a Premier League shout in the second half of the season? — but James Garner really stands out.

Signed from Manchester United, the midfielder impressed for Forest in the second half of 2020/21 and did even better in 2021/22, with four goals and eight assists as the Reds won promotion.

A permanent deal couldn’t be agreed and he moved to Everton in the summer but his impact there has barely registered.

Southampton: Toby Alderweireld

Southampton have had real success in the loan market, with Ryan Bertrand, Danny Ings, and Kyle Walker-Peters all performing excellently at the top level, but Alderweireld pips the lot.

A truly world class defender joining on loan from Atlético Madrid, the Belgian was so good that they replaced him with Virgil van Dijk.

Tottenham: Gareth Bale

Dejan Kulusevski and Cristian Romero are big hits right now after playing for Spurs on loan last season but what about Bale?

Returning from Real Madrid for the 2020/21 season, the Welshman was no longer at his peak — half of his appearances came from the bench — but still netted a Premier League goal every 84 minutes in his second stint in north London.

West Ham: Jesse Lingard

Who saw Lingard’s second half of the 2020/21 season coming?

Out of favour at Old Trafford, he arrived in east London and grabbed nine Premier League goals and four assists in just 16 appearances. Arguably the best Premier League loan deal in recent history.

Wolves: Raúl Jiménez

A few players have joined Wolves on loan in recent seasons before making the switch permanent, with Willy Boly, Diogo Jota and Raúl Jiménez all big hits.

Honestly, you can take your pick, but we’ve plumped for the Mexican.