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There are a lot of questions surrounding the state of loan spells for football players across the globe, as seasons are now starting to resume after a months-long layoff. Most loan contracts were set to expire at the end of June, but with the 2019/20 season now set to continue well into the summer months, many teams have been left wondering if their loaned players will still be available to them until end of the season.
According to an ESPN, Manchester United will allow their players who are currently out on loan to spend the rest of the 2019/20 season at their temporary clubs, should the respective leagues restart.
That means Alexis Sánchez at Inter Milan, Chris Smalling at Roma and Dean Henderson at Sheffield United will continue to play at their current team instead of coming back to Old Trafford. The rest of United’s players who went out on loan were to teams that play in leagues that have already canceled the remainder of their seasons.
This announcement will give two-team flop Sánchez once more chance to prove he is worth his overpriced contract. Inter are currently in third place in Serie A.
Smalling has proven his worth at Roma and is rumored to be considering a full-time switch, although United have said several times that they plan on bringing him back to fight for a spot in the United back line. Roma trail Atalanta by three points for the fourth and final UCL qualification position.
Henderson’s Sheffield United side also welcome the news that their star keeper will be staying to help the Blades battle United and Wolves for fourth place in the Premier League and potential Champions League qualification next year.
Now the question that remains is: what about United’s on-loan striker Odion Ighalo?
Ighalo has said numerous times that he would like to see out his loan spell at United but as reported here, Shanghai Shenhua, Ighalo’s team that holds his rights, has offered the Nigerian International a two-year contract extension worth more than £400,000 ($485k) per week and want Ighalo to return July 1st when the Chinese Super League starts back up.