Chelsea midfielder Lucas Piazon could be heading out on loan for the seventh time, with firm interest being shown from Portuguese outfit Rio Ave, according to Football.London.
Piazon – who became the Blues’ longest-serving player following the departure of defender Thomas Kalas, who joined Bristol City earlier this summer after eight years of service at Stamford Bridge – has played just 14 minutes for the west Londoners in seven years.
He was dubbed “the next Kaka” upon his arrival to the club as a teenager in 2011, but has found it impossible to break into the first-team fold at the Bridge, spending the previous six seasons out on loan to Malaga, Vitesse, Frankfurt, Reading, Fulham and Chievo respectively.
The 25-year-old is now poised for another loan move away from the Premier League titans, with Primeira Liga outfit Rio Ave current front-runners to obtain his signature until next summer.
Football.London report that Rio Ave are confident in securing a two-year loan spell for the attacker, which is where things start to get a little complicated.
Piazon is out of contract next summer, meaning that if he did make a two-year switch to Portugal he would have to sign at least another one-year contract extension at Chelsea, similar to what happened with Italian full-back Davide Zappacosta, who joined former club Roma on loan until January just days after signing a new one-year deal with the Blues.
Having featured for Chelsea for just 14 minutes in the previous seven years – an 8-0 win over Aston Villa in 2012 – it is pretty clear that Piazon will never break into the first-team at Stamford Bridge.
With that in mind, a move away such as a two-year loan spell (as mooted above) could be a good way of settling down somewhere for a man who has spent most of his career being farmed out around Europe.
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