Chelsea: Zappacosta, Drinkwater loans plan for a best worst-case scenario

Arrivederci Davide, we hardly knew ye. And thus, another one of Chelsea’s recent big-money signings sheepishly makes his way out the back exit.

Davide Zappacosta follows fellow flop, Danny Drinkwater (or Daniele Bereacqua, as Zappacosta probably called him), out the door and enrolls in the Chelsea loan army. While Drinkwater has found a temporary home in Sean Dyche’s house of pain at Burnley, Zappacosta made his way to the eternal city, Rome.

The players’ loan destinations couldn’t be more different, but the duration of both loans is a bit odd.

Chelsea usually loan players out for a season or more. In case of unwanted or fringe players, the idea is to keep the player as far away from Cobham, for as long as possible. However, the club seems to have changed tack with the Drinkwater and Zappacosta loans.

Drinkwater’s loan spell ends on January 6 while Zappacosta can enjoy Italy only until the end of January. Why would the club loan out players who clearly don’t have a future at Chelsea for such a short duration? At first glance, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But dig deeper and there’s sound logic behind this.

The club and the management seem to be having more on their mind than just getting rid of deadwood. With the transfer ban no closer to being lifted on appeal, Chelsea seem to be planning for a scenario where the club won’t be able to sign players in January either. And that is a good thing. The planning, not the ban, obviously.

If the ban remains in force in January, there is a likelihood of the club taking up their option to not extend the loans of the dynamic duo of Davide and Danny. And although it may cause an uproar on Twitter, you would be hard pressed to find fault in the club’s reasoning.

You see, despite everything, a club of Chelsea’s stature can expect to be involved in all four competitions when the year 2020 kicks in. And usually it is around the new year that injuries mount and fatigue start affecting the players. With no incoming transfers, Frank Lampard will have to juggle his resources astutely if Chelsea are to stay alive in the race for top four, and perhaps win a domestic cup. Additionally, if Chelsea make it to the latter stages of the Champions League, Lampard could very well decide to put the other two cup competitions on the backburner and play his strongest side in the league and in Europe.

There aren’t a lot of options for rotation when Chelsea play three games in seven days, even if they go crazy with the youth prospects.

It is during this time that senior figures such as Drinkwater and Zappacosta could come in handy for the domestic cup games and perhaps a Premier League outing against a side in the bottom half of the table. Neither of those will ever be first-choice in their positions at Chelsea, but they could still be useful for the final few months of a difficult season.

Frank Lampard will need all the players he can get, if he wants to make an impact this season despite the transfer handicap.

So even though they have departed for the time being, do not be surprised to see either of them putting on a Chelsea shirt again in the new year if the club remains banned for another transfer window.