Okuzeka
Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Transfers & Contracts

Loan

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

/loʊn/nounCommon term

In football (soccer), loan means: An arrangement in which a player temporarily joins another club for a set period, often a season, while still under contract with their parent club.

In Turkish: kiralık, kiralama

How it is used

A player goes out on loan, is loaned out or joins on a season-long loan. Deals can include a loan fee, an option to buy or an obligation to buy. Young players are often loaned out to get regular first-team football.

Example sentences

  1. He spent last season on loan at a second-division club.

  2. We've agreed a loan with an option to buy for €4 million.

Common collocations

  • on loan
  • season-long loan
  • loan with an option to buy
  • loan spell
  • loan fee
  • transferThe move of a player from one club to another, usually with a fee paid to the selling club and a new contract for the player.
  • transfer windowOne of the fixed periods in the year when clubs are allowed to register new players, usually a long one in summer and a shorter one in winter.
  • signFor a club, to bring a player in on a contract; for a player, to agree a contract and join a club.
  • squadAll the players available to a team for a season or a competition, from whom the starting eleven and the substitutes are chosen.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Transfers & Contracts

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: