The Loan Spells You ve Definitely Forgotten About
Everyone knows that David Beckham had a spell at Preston and John Terry cut his teeth at Nottingham Forest, but there's so many loans you'd be forgiven for completely forgetting about.
Ashley Cole's third London club? The blue strip worn by Jordan Henderson Tour du thuyền Hạ Long giá rẻ before his glory days as a Red? Anyone? Or what about the semi-retired pro making the shock move from Motherwell to Manchester United?
It's very easy to forget that most top professionals, at some point in their careers, were sent out to gain valuable experience or were quite possibly an emergency capture.
Sportsmail takes look back at well-known players wearing very unfamiliar kits.
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ASHLEY COLE (Arsenal to Crystal Palace, 2000)
It's the 1999-2000 season and a talented teenage left-back called Ashley Cole is handed a tantalising glimpse of the future when Arsene Wenger gives him a first-team debut in the League Cup against Middlesbrough.
But he's raw and unready for the rigours of the Premier League. So Cole is sewnt from north London to south to gain experience playing for kynghidongduong.vn Division One club Crystal Palace.
Future England international Ashley Cole in Crystal Palace colours during his 2000 loan spell
The future England international impresses in his 14 games for the Eagles, managed by Steve Coppell and on their way to a 15th-place finish in the second tier. The highlight is a scooped finish from the edge of the box against Blackburn Rovers.
Buoyed by that experience, Cole seized his opportunity the following season when the Gunners first-choice left-back, Sylvinho, suffered an injury and didn't look back.
So if you're ever in a pub quiz and they ask for the third London club Cole played for, there's your answer.
JORDAN HENDERSON (Sunderland to Coventry City, 2009)
We all know Jordan Henderson now as Liverpool's captain fantastic, a European Cup winner and an established England international.
Back in 2009, he was learning his midfield craft at hometown club Sunderland and had a couple of senior appearances under his belt.
With the intention of gaining more game time, Henderson was loaned out to Championship club Coventry City in January 2009, initially for just a month.
A young Jordan Henderson, on loan from Sunderland, wearing the colours of Coventry City
But such was the impression he made, the loan was soon extended until the end of the season and Henderson made 13 appearances in all, helping the Sky Blues to a final finish of 17th, eight points above the drop zone.
Unfortunately, Henderson fractured a metatarsal bone in his foot and the loan was cut short in April but the following season proved his breakthrough year, making 33 Premier League appearances for Sunderland.
JAMES MILNER (Leeds United to Swindon Town, 2003)
Milner was the second-youngest player to ever feature in the Premier League when he made his Leeds United debut aged 16 years and 309 days in November 2002.
He'd also become the youngest ever player to score in a Premier League match when he netted against Sunderland on Boxing Day 2002.
But while he'd go on to make 22 appearances for Leeds that season, Milner is precisely the kind of personality that can appreciate the benefits of a lower-league loan spell.
James Milner in action for Swindon town against Brighton during his loan there in 2003
His came in Division Two and as Milner would later reflect: 'I was sent on loan to Swindon, which was valuable experience because I needed games rather than a few minutes here and there as a sub.'
In the end, he spent just a month at the County Ground, playing six matches and scoring against Peterborough United and Luton Town.
Milner duly returned to a Leeds United in crisis and they would be relegated to the Championship later that season with the young midfielder moving on to Newcastle United.
ANDY GORAM (Motherwell to Manchester United, 2001)
In what has to be Sir Alex Ferguson's most bizarre signing of his long and successful tenure at Manchester United, veteran Scottish goalkeeper Andy Goram was brought in on loan in 2001.
United had a keeping crisis as they closed in on a third consecutive Premier League title, with Fabian Barthez and his understudy Raimond van der Gouw out injured. Mark Bosnich had been sold to Chelsea in the January, so Fergie had a dilemma.
Goram had been suggested by Ferguson's brother and chief scout, Martin, and promptly dismissed. After all, the erstwhile Scotland No 1 was semi-retired, just released by Motherwell and running a pub.
Scottish veteran keeper Andy Goram during one of his two Manchester United appearances
When Fergie called Goram to gauge his interest, the keeper thought it was a wind-up by his old Rangers mate Ally McCoist. 'You've for 10 seconds to decide yay or naw, ya fat b******,' said Ferguson when he called back.
Goram, a big United fan, ended up making two appearances for the club. A 4-2 win over Coventry City in which he conceded twice and was hauled off after 66 minutes so Van der Gouw could claim his league winners' medal.
His second was a 2-1 defeat by Southampton in a dead rubber after the title had been secured. A very fleeting Old Trafford career but an entertaining episode nonetheless.
LOUIS SAHA (Metz to Newcastle United, 1999)
We best associate French striker Louis Saha with Fulham, Manchester United and Everton but let's not forget his adventures in English football began on Tyneside.
Saha was a 20-year-old just breaking through in French football at Metz when Newcastle United boss Ruud Gullit signed him on loan in January 1999.
He played 11 Premier League games in total and also featured in one match in Newcastle's run to the 1999 FA Cup final, scoring the decisive goal in a fifth-round replay at Blackburn Rovers.
French striker Louis Saha spent half a season on loan at Newcastle United during 1998-1999
That was one of just two goals during his loan spell, which perhaps explains why Gullit left him out of the squad for the final against Manchester United.
It wouldn't be long before Saha came to England permanently, joining ambitious First Division club Fulham for £2.1million in the summer of 2000.
PETER CROUCH (Tottenham to Dulwich Hamlet and IFK Hassleholm, 2000)
Crouch played for a number of Premier League clubs with distinction during his career, not to mention England, but it's often forgotten that it all began at Tottenham.
The enormous striker came through the youth ranks at White Hart Lane but didn't actually make a first-team appearance for Spurs until he was signed by them in 2009.
But the 1999-2000 campaign was an interesting one for Crouch, with Spurs first loaning him out to Dulwich Hamlet of the Isthmian League and then third-tier Swedish club IFK Hassleholm.
The unmistakable figure of Peter Crouch celebrates a Dulwich Hamlet goal during his loan
Crouch, now a Sportsmail columnist and star of his own podcast, scored once in six appearances for the Hamlet and moved to Sweden because Hassleholm had sold Jon Jonsson to Spurs for £70,000 and the deal included two loan players going the other way.
Crouch netted three times in eight matches while in Sweden and that apparently was enough to entice Queens Park Rangers to sign him in 2000 and his career really took off.
ADAM LALLANA (Southampton to Bournemouth, 2007)
Lallana, a future England international and now of Liverpool, actually started his youth career in Bournemouth's Centre of Excellence before being spotted by Southampton, with some distance between the two south coast clubs at that time.
The Saints paid Bournemouth £3,000 in compensation, which further payments of £5,000 and £10,000 when he signed scholarship and professional contacts respectively. The Cherries then received £4m of Lallana's transfer fee when sold to Liverpool in 2014.
Adam Lallana back where it all began at Bournemouth during a loan spell in October 2007
It nonetheless seems a bargain for someone who went on to play 265 times for Southampton, helping them from League One back to the top flight, and win 34 England caps.
But Lallana did briefly return to Bournemouth, then in League One, in October 2007, and played four matches in all. It wasn't the best season at Dean Court, as they suffered relegation.
AARON RAMSEY (Arsenal to Nottingham Forest, 2010-11)
Ramsey wasn't exactly short of experience by the time of the 2010-11 season. The midfielder had made his breakthrough in the Championship with Cardiff City as a 16-year-old and earned a £4.8m move to Arsenal.
He'd played over 50 times for the Gunners and was already a Wales international, but as Ramsey recovered from a double leg fracture following a bad tackle by Stoke's Ryan Shawcross he was sent out on loan to Nottingham Forest to improve his fitness.
Aaron Ramsey in the colours of Nottingham Forest as he recovered from injury in 2010
He spent just over a month at the City Ground, but actually only played five games because quite a few were frozen off during a harsh winter.
Ramsey had better luck with his rehabilitation during a subsequent loan spell back at Cardiff and he was soon an Arsenal regular again.
MICHAEL CARRICK (West Ham United to Swindon Town and Birmingham City, 1999-2000)
Midfield maestro Carrick was part of the talented West Ham team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1999 and manager Harry Redknapp had no qualms about handing him a first-team debut.
But more extensive game time was required to learn his trade and that's how Carrick came to spend time on loan at First Division clubs Swindon and Birmingham during the 1999-2000 campaign.
Michael Carrick spent a few weeks on loan at First Division strugglers Swindon in 1999-2000
Carrick's time at the County Ground included his first-ever professional goal, in a 2-1 home defeat by Charlton Athletic. But he couldn't help Swindon win a game during his six outings and they would eventually finish rock bottom.
In February, Carrick arrived at St Andrew's but this stay was even shorter, just the two appearances before he was recalled to Upton Park and made his breakthrough.
STEVEN CAULKER (Queens Park Rangers to Liverpool, 2016)
As reigning European champions and Premier League champions-elect, it's weird to think that just four years ago, Liverpool signed Caulker, a Queens Park Rangers centre-back, and deployed him as an auxiliary striker.
Caulker was meant to be on loan at Southampton for the whole of the 2015-16 season but this was cut short so he could sign for Liverpool in the January.
Steven Caulker (R) pictured in action with Liverpool during his bizarre loan spell there in 2016
Everyone assumed Caulker had been brought in to act as cover for Liverpool's often shaky defence, but the towering 6ft 3in player actually became to go to man for height and presence in the other penalty box.
Klopp brought him off the bench three times, against Arsenal, Manchester United and Norwich City in the 87th, 90th and 95th minutes respectively - to try and get a goal.
It was a short-lived spell at Anfield and a bizarre one. And quite the contrast from the devastating forward line that Klopp would soon unleash on opponents both at home and abroad.
RELATED ARTICLES
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REVEALED: How the Premier League table would look if decided... From compensating staff, to making phone calls to elderly... Premier League clubs pushing to complete season by June 30... Reality kicks in... Premier League stars are training with...
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