Chelsea's famed "Loan Army" lost one of its most seasoned and distinguished generals this week as Lucas Piazon finally departed the club without any contractual obligation to return.
Piazon, who turns 27 next week, had been on the books at Stamford Bridge for almost a decade, but made just three senior appearances in that time.
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The winger, who came through the youth ranks at Sao Paulo in his native Brazil, turned down interest from Juventus to sign a pre-contract agreement with the Blues in March 2011. He arrived in England that summer, and played for the reserves until he turned 18 in January 2012, at which point he might have expected to embark on a long, successful career with the first team.
Instead, he spent majority of his tenure out on loan in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany, as well as England's second tier.
AMA/Corbis via Getty ImagesIn fact, of the 359 Premier League games Chelsea contested during the duration of Piazon's employment, the Brazilian played in just one -- an 8-0 win over Aston Villa in December 2012, in which he came off the bench in the 74th minute and still found time to rack up an assist for compatriot Ramires AND have a penalty saved by Villa keeper Brad Guzan.
Julian Finney/Getty ImagesHis two other first-team appearances came in the League Cup. Making his debut under coach Roberto Di Matteo, Piazon played 90 minutes in a 6-0 win against Wolves in the third round, providing an assist for Ryan Bertrand's goal. His second and final cup appearance came in the very next round as the Blues beat Manchester United 5-4 after extra time to reach the quarterfinals. He was subbed off after 55 minutes to be replaced by Eden Hazard.
After those three appearances so early in his career in England, Piazon would never again make a competitive appearance for the Blues. Instead, he amassed a total of seven loan spells away from the club as he found himself farmed out at Malaga, Vitesse, Eintracht Frankfurt, Reading, Fulham, Chievo and Rio Ave from 2013 until this year.
However, the Blues' longest-serving player has now found a new permanent home, joining Portuguese side Braga on a four-year contract -- thus bringing to an end one of the most nomadic loan careers in football.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of his transfer is the knowledge that, if he'd have just hung on a few more months, he'd have qualified for his Chelsea testimonial. But at least his departure was marked with the emotional farewell message that Chelsea posted on social media.
Good luck, Lucas!