Lesley Ugochukwu [FC Southampton]

It was quite fitting that Conor Gallagher was the man to spare Mauricio Pochettino’s blushes against Crystal Palace. The Chelsea manager has been under intense pressure after a dismal season and that looked like intensifying with Palace holding a 1-0 lead at half-time.

Last summer Premier League clubs spent over €1b on new transfers. Some of it was certainly money well spent, with the likes of Cole Palmer, Alexis Mac Allister and Declan Rice flourishing in their new colours this season. However for some players, for various reasons, it just hasn’t worked out. The pressure of signing for a Premier League club is higher than ever, such is the scrutiny that comes with any wrong move after a high profile transfer. Social media has only heightened that feeling in recent years.

The Premier League is unquestionably the richest league in the world, which means that the members of the English top-flight are able to spend the most amount of money on new players and gather up the most valuable players in the world. This is not only evident through the simple fact that the division has so far spent around €2.03 billion on new players this summer, but also clear to see when we consider that the total market value of the division stands at a remarkable €11.77b - which is more than twice the market value of the next best league. But not all of the players that make up that figure are well-known stars or even regular starters for their club and in many cases Premier League clubs keep a number of exceptional players on their books but have opted to send them out on loan for this coming season. So which English top-flight clubs have the most players out on loan this season?

Christopher Nkunku arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2023 with plenty of promise placed upon his shoulders at Chelsea. The Frenchman was just off the back of being the Bundesliga's top goalscorer. In fact in the past two seasons for RB Leipzig, he had accumulated 58 goals and 29 assists in all competitions. However, injuries severely disrupted his first season on English shores - he mana...