Many players who are on loan at a club are often accused of playing much better during this time when they are trying to win a contract than they eventually do when they sign permanently.
One player who falls into the opposite category is Roma defender Simon Kjaer who is on loan from German club Wolfsburg.
The Danish international has consistently flattered to deceive in the capital this season and has fallen a long way from his time at Palermo when he was rated as one of the most promising defenders in Europe.
When it came to leaving Sicily, there were many top clubs including Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid who were all thought to be making a move for the player before Kjaer made the decision to move to Germany.
However, things have not gone the way that the player, who turned 23 on Monday, would have hoped despite a promising start to his career in the Bundesliga.
After the sacking of Steve McLaren who brought Kjaer to the club, the player struggled under new coach Felix Magath and his performances suffered so badly that he played very little of the club’s crucial run-in last season that the manager decided to offload the player who had cost the club in the region of €12 million.
You can’t blame the Giallorossi for swooping last summer to sign the player on loan with the option to purchase him in May because it seemed like a wise investment at the time.
After all surely he could perform back at his best in the league where he made his name and recover from the torrid time he had for his final few months in Germany but, alas, he has looked a shadow of the player who has previously won the 2009 Danish Player of the Year award and who proved himself on a massive stage with his displays at the World Cup the following year.
Yet, just seven months after signing for Roma it is already looking unlikely that he will be offered the deal that he so desperately wants next season with his latest blunders at the weekend against Milan being just the latest calamity in a frustrating season for both player and club.
It was always going to be a tough year in transition for the Roman giants as they adjust to the management and ‘project’ of Luis Enrique and their inconsistency throughout has not helped and one man who must shoulder a lot of the blame is Kjaer.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made him look decidedly amateur as he scored the winning goal at San Siro on Saturday and, although the Swede is one of the most talented players in the world, a strong centre back should be doing better in those kinds of situations and should be showing far more strength and confidence than he has done for much of the season.
Roma’s disastrous defending in a 4-2 slump away to Cagliari this season saw much of the fingers pointed at Kjaer who failed to lead the side in a manner that calcio fans had been accustomed to expect of him in the peninsula.
These are not isolated incidents though and in the biggest game of the season for Roma, the Derby della Capitale, it could be argued that his lack of positional sense and apparent ball-watching saw him not only caught out at the back but he gave away a penalty that let Lazio equalise and had himself red carded which would go on to cost Roma dear as Miroslav Klose pounced late in the game to hit the winner.
Of course, it would be unfair to lay all of the blame at the Dane’s door as it is obviously very tough for a central player to adapt to the system that Enrique employs in which he often leaves his centre backs exposed in search of goals but he simply has not proven himself to be capable enough to be rewarded with a deal at the Giallorossi.
There have been times when he has looked more like the imposing defender who led Palermo so well not too long ago but these have been all to sporadic and his performances have often looked considerably poorer when you look at how well his partner Juan has played throughout much of the season.
With the name of Ezequiel Munoz being thrown around by Walter Sabatini it seems that he too feels that the loanee’s time at the Olimpico may to be drawing to a close by looking for other options and it does seem like the right call from the Roma director.
Follow Padraig Whelan on Twitter @PWhelan88 and be sure to check out Football and Fighting
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