Rails bug reproduction:

through_association_preloader.rb

# frozen_string_literal: true

require "bundler/inline"

gemfile(true) do
  source "https://rubygems.org"

  gem "activerecord", "7.0.2.4"
  gem "sqlite3"
end

require "active_record"
require "logger"

# This connection will do for database-independent bug reports.
ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(adapter: "sqlite3", database: ":memory:")
ActiveRecord::Base.logger = Logger.new(STDOUT)

ActiveRecord::Schema.define do
  create_table :cards, force: true do |t|
    t.references :card_data
  end

  create_table :card_data, force: true do |t|
    t.references :player
  end

  create_table :players, force: true do |t|
    t.references :active_club
  end

  create_table :teams, force: true do |t|
    t.string :type
  end
end

class Card < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :card_data
  has_one :player, through: :card_data
  has_one :active_club, through: :player
end

class CardData < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :player
end

class Player < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :active_club, class_name: 'Club'
end

class Team < ActiveRecord::Base
end

class Club < Team
end

player = Player.create!
card_data = CardData.create!(player:)
card = Card.create!(card_data:)

card.reload.player
::ActiveRecord::Associations::Preloader.new(records: [card], associations: :active_club).call.then(&:first)