Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount says he values his time in Holland with Vitesse.
Mount and Chelsea are set to host Champions League opponents Ajax.
He told his club's website: "It was very important for me to go there at 18 years old, moving countries, and it definitely made me grow as a person.
"The technical side of the game out there is so high so it helped that part of my game a lot. It was my first professional loan so getting minutes and playing well was the most important thing and it sort of kick-started my career really.
"I was playing in the Europa League as well so straight away that gave me the experience of European football. It's not the Champions League but to start off in that competition was brilliant for me. We played away in Lazio, in France against Nice and Waregem.
"It gave me so much experience to go into the Champions League where it's bigger. There's much more pressure on the games and performances but we can handle that. We've shown that after a tough start with the way we've bounced back and hopefully we can keep getting the wins."