Loan Tracker #3: October

It seems that not even a month can pass by without an ‘International break’ needed to fill out national team fixtures. Many of the players on this list left their clubs during September to travel and play around the globe, and they had to make the same pause during October. That means that a lot of the numbers may seem pretty small to the naked eye, but for many it is still the highest amount of games that they could have played possible. Despite the minimal time spent with their teams, many of these players started or continued breakthroughs, whilst others found themselves tumbling down the pecking order. Who had a month to remember? And who will pick up the third star player of the season title?

The Gold Category

Martin Ødegaard - (Real Sociedad, La Liga)

Appearances: 4

Goals: 0

Assists: 1

Real Sociedad, Norway and Martin had a really mixed October. His club won two games, but lost two as well - and are just about maintaining a top six place. Martin’s performances were great in the victories, against Real Betis (3-1), and Celta Vigo (1-0) respectively. With a bit of luck he even registered the winning assist against Celta for ex-Castilla target Alex Isak’s goal. In the defeats however, he was more muted. They weren’t bad performances by any means, but both Martin and his teammates will walk away from the 2-1 scorelines against Getafe and Levante knowing they could well have been right up there in the table. For Norway, another really mixed bag. Jubilation at home against the world famous Spain after Martin played really well and Norway managed to salvage a really late point via a Josh King penalty - keeping their Euro 2020 hopes alive. That was all flattened days later as they could only muster up a 1-1 draw in a game they needed to win against fellow play-off contenders Romania. Martin had a ten minute nightmare during this game, but for the rest of it he looked dangerous on the right-hand side and remained one of his teams most important players. There is still hope for Norway with two games to go, but it is all well out of their hands. As for Martin, it’s been another progressive month even if it was slightly less impactful. He has played every single minute of the eleven games that Sociedad have currently played. May this long continue...

Sergio Reguilón - (Sevilla, La Liga)

Appearances: 3

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

You can make that two out of two in terms of progression in October for Golden category members. Reguilón’s incredible growth encountered another spurt as he received his first ever senior international call-up for Spain. It’s just another factor that was unthinkable mere seasons ago. He didn’t actually manage to get on and make his debut against Ødegaard’s Norway, nor Sweden. There is plenty of time for that next achievement, though. For Sevilla, Sergio’s month was pretty good if you exclude the 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Barcelona towards the start. He completed the full game in wins over Levante (1-0), and Getafe (2-0). He did not feature in the 1-1 draw with Valencia at the end of the month in order to rest a small knock picked up during the week. In the Europa League, Sergio continues to sit out in order to encourage rotation and give key players a rest ahead of league games. A good month all in all, but Sergio can definitely push on, and have an even better November.

Takefusa Kubo - (Mallorca, La Liga)

Appearances: 3

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

It looked like Takefusa Kubo may have sneaked in a starting spot after some positive cameos throughout the season so far, but in October all of that regressed. He returned to the bench all month, making three subdued substitute appearances in wins over Espanyol (2-0), parent club Real Madrid (1-0) and a 1-0 defeat to Leganés. This led to him being left on the bench for the entire game in the 2-2 draw with Osasuna. He did spend some time away with the Japanese national team, but remained on the bench, playing a combined ten minutes against Myanmar and Tajikistan - and not featuring at all against Mongolia. It is, and always was crystal clear that Kubo was not ready to be thrusted straight into the highest level directly from the J-League. Despite this, immense fan persistence and pressure pushed him into an early move that has only served as a deterrent to his development. Unlike Rodrygo, Castilla looked a perfect environment for Kubo, and he would have played every second possible for the young reserves, as well as benefiting from potential first team involvement in the process. We are still in the early stages of the season, and Takefusa certainly has the ability to turn everything around and complete an excellent season. I just hope that next time the club brings in an inexperienced young name, that fans actually think a little bit before screaming for a illogical and irrational loan move. Will that actually happen? I doubt it.

Achraf Hakimi - (Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga)

Appearances: 6

Goals: 3

Assists: 0

Straight off of the bat, I can confirm to you that Achraf was October’s star player. By quite a distance, too. The full-back played the most games out of any player on this loan tracker list, but none of them were actually at full-back. October brought a month full of experiments for Achraf, who was tried and tested as a winger for Dortmund in both league and cup games. This brought reward for Lucien Favre, as Hakimi scored against high-flyers Freiburg in a 2-2 draw, and twice in the Champions League against Slavia Prague to secure the 2-0 win. Results elsewhere differed - much like Achraf’s influence. His performances were consistently good throughout the month, but in some games you could tell he was new to the advanced winger role. He did manage to play once back at full-back, as Morocco gave him a call-up, and he played the full 90 in a surprise 3-2 defeat to Gabon. It’s fantastic that Achraf is so versatile, and can perform to a high standard in multiple roles on both sides of the pitch now - but I of course do hope to see him return to the full-back slot in November. Either way, Achraf swoops up his first star player of the month title for the season!

The Silver Category

Óscar Rodríguez - (Leganés, La Liga)

Appearances: 4

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Leganés have continued to struggle in what looks to be a damning season for them, but Óscar looks to be a bright spark in a dark sky. He was unable to add to his statistics after defeats to Levante and Getafe. A 1-0 win over Mallorca provided some hope for the Real Madrid game, but they put in a very poor display in the 5-0 loss to Óscar’s boyhood club. He looked dangerous in that game, and could have scored if not for a brilliant save from Thibaut Courtois. He was called up for youth national duty for Spain under-21s, but missed both fixtures through injury. It is a real positive that Óscar can look dangerous even when his team look far inferior to nearly all of their opponents. If he continues to surprise and progress, then he will be looking very far up even if Leganés are forced to look down.

Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images

Andriy Lunin - (Real Valladolid, La Liga)

Appearances: 0

Clean Sheets: 0

Another month of the bench for Lunin. The Copa Del Rey will commence soon enough, so expect this to change slightly - but this remains a disaster. Again.

Javier Sánchez - (Real Valladolid, La Liga)

Appearances: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Another month of not even the bench for Javier. His “injury” may form the excuse, but zero games at this stage of the season is not acceptable regardless. If it carries on past November, then Real Madrid should be withdrawing both Javier and Lunin.

Jorge De Frutos - (Real Valladolid, La Liga)

Appearances: 2

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

At least somebody made a breakthrough in October, however small. De Frutos, statistically the least likely to have an impact at Real Madrid out of the three loanees at Valladolid, became the first player to feature for the club this season. He made two substitute appearances in a 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao, and a 2-0 win over Eibar. Making his La Liga debut is a superb achievement for a very talented player. He did sit the whole Barcelona game on the bench as the team lost 5-1, but this does send out hope to all three youngsters of a better immediate future. Next month will be truly telling.

The Bronze Category

Borja Mayoral - (Levante, La Liga)

Apperances: 3

Goals: 1

Assists: 0

Borja’s October was a whole lot of nothing after the first three games. After failing to come off of the bench against Leganés - he played just five minutes in the 1-0 defeat to Sevilla, and twenty-seven minutes in another defeat of the same scoreline against Espanyol. He did salvage a shred of positivity after starting and playing really well against Real Sociedad. He bagged the first goal in that 2-1 win. This will hopefully lead to some more opportunities for November.

Alberto Soro - (Real Zaragoza, La Liga123)

Appearances: 3

Goals: 1

Assists: 0

Alberto used October to overcome an injury picked up the month prior. After a rusty cameo against Fuenlabrada (a 2-1 loss) brought him back - he went onto start and score his first goal of the season in another 2-1 defeat to Mirandés. Another start closed the months seal, but it ended with another defeat, this time via a 4-0 pasting at Sporting Gijón. Zaragoza have somehow retained a top ten position in the La Liga123 table, but they will be boosted in the knowledge that Soro has now fully recovered ahead of November.

Dani Gómez - (Tenerife, La Liga123)

Appearances: 2

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

It once again looks like Dani had a quiet month, but October ended up being really significant for the striker. For Tenerife he only featured twice off of the bench, in defeats to Real Oviedo and Extremadura - but days later he received his first Spanish under-21s international call-up. He played in both of the fixtures for Spain, making his debut against Germany before coming on against Montenegro. This is a sign that he must be doing something right, although he was refined to the bench for Tenerife’s last league game of the month. He can only hope for an uninterrupted November.

The White Category

Sergio Díaz - (Cerro Porteño, Paraguayan Primera División)

Appearances: 3

Goals: 1

Assists: 0

In September, Sergio showed the first signs of life within Sergio Díaz as he scored his first goal in almost three years. In October, he continued that revival, and managed to score his second. Yes, it was from the penalty spot - but his goal against Guaraní ended up being the winner. He continued to show promise in the games against Deportivo Santaní (4-0 win), and Deportivo Capiatá (3-2 loss), and even abruptly claimed after one of the games that “the goals will come”. His performances have started to win the fans back, and there is all of a sudden this new-found buzz around the forward. This progress could completely change his outlook, and if he has a good November - dare we say that he is back?

Augusto Galván - (CyD Leonesa, Segunda División B)

Appearances: 1

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Augusto made only his second appearance of the season for Leonesa in October. His six minute showing in a 1-0 win over Izarra only raised concerns over his squad standing. After featuring regularly for an impressive Castilla side last season, I know for a fact that he is worth more than this. In reality he should have been starting the majority of games for Castilla this year. This only proves that Real Madrid are careless even when comes to the small scale loan moves. What chance do some of the bigger ones have?

Alberto - (Fuenlabrada, La Liga123)

Appearances: 0

Goals: 0

Assists: 0

Another month of recovery for Alberto. No progress to report just yet...

Moha Ramos - (Birmingham City, The Championship)

Appearances: 0

Clean Sheets: 0

Moha only featured for the Birmingham academy once again in October. Reports are all positive contributions there, but then again - he is a Real Madrid goalkeeper on loan to Birmingham... At least this has fans chanting for his first team squad inclusion. We will see...

Luca Zidane - (Racing Santander, La Liga123)

Appearances: 5

Clean Sheets: 1

Finally: a breakthrough at Valladolid. Could this spell change for the three struggling loanees? Sergio Díaz continues to bring himself back to life to my amazement, and I could not be happier for him. Ødegaard and Reguilón are still flying - but it was Achraf Hakimi who ran away with the best performances this month, and out of position at that! For Takefusa Kubo and Augusto Galván, things are looking bleak. However, they both are good enough to take things into their own hands and turn it all around. November will hold another international break, which is not ideal for many of these players as some need to enhance their status within their clubs. This provides less opportunity to do so, and also shifts the focus of the players. Either way, November is still a big month for some of the players on this list...

September’s Star Player: Achraf Hakimi!