Yeah you got the idea.
Chelsea loan out loads of players all the time, one or two becoming quality enough for the first team is bound to happen due to sheer volume.
I'm not saying City shouldn't loan players, we still do that, and maybe like Chelsea, in the future one or two make it, but so far none have and the ODDS as Chelsea have proven are so incredibly low.
Then there's the whole debate about well they did well on loan, but that was a lesser league and doesn't play our style etc that you see happen about successful loan spells.
Also, what if we loaned Foden and they didn't treat him right? Gave him no minutes, didn't fit well with the team etc. It's possible Chelsea had amazing talents that they loaned out and ruined their potential, it's possible.
It's far more logical to just give the top talent a year around the first team squad and see how they play about, even if it's less minutes, because they could show something really special that they'd have to at this age to have a chance at City.
Foden showed it at 16 years of age with his first team showing, everyone could see what a talent we have to nurture. Delap, and Palmer in this case are older, they need to impress if they stay with us for a year. I bet even Mount and James if given first team chances first would have shown some quality as well. Even if the standard wasn't there, just loan after, win-win situation.