Morning all from my sunny Essex garden. Feels like a bit of clam before the storm right now. Sitting and relaxing with a coffee before I have to get on with the days chores.
Mow the lawn, dead head some plants, paint a fence panel, and then relax to watch the F1 qualifying. I was looking forward to the cricket today but I would be surprised if the England v Ireland test goes beyond lunch.
Nice and peaceful here right now. Can just hear the sound of the birds chirping and the distant murmer of cars on the M25. And it is nice and peaceful in the world of Arsenal as well.
With the international fixtures not starting until 16 June, players have been given a leave of absence from the club. A chance to start their holidays early. For some, they will have to come back ahead of representing their country. Others can begin recharging their batteries ahead of next season.
Bukayo Saka has taken the opportunity to return to the home of his parents. The response to him out in Nigeria just shows what a huge global star he has become.
Saka is going to be Arsenal’s next superstar on and off the field. Like Thierry Henry, he will be a reason why people begin to support Arsenal. And similar to Kanu and Didier Drogba (for Chelsea), he will capture the hearts and minds of those across Africa. Expect our profile in Nigeria to rise even further.
And he is a credit to his family, the club and himself. Such a polite, down to earth, well rounded young man. No airs and graces. No arrogance.
I do worry about 2-years time. If Arsenal do not continue with this upward progression and begin to win the trophies he craves, he could be off.
Saka only signed a 4-year deal. That means summer 2025 will be when he either signs a new 5-year deal (taking him to 28), or is sold. Likely to Manchester City.
It does remind me a little bit of Raheem Sterling at Liverpool. In 2015, they could not match his ambition and he jumped ship. Top players will always want to go somewhere where they can win trophies.
There is not much else really happening around Arsenal right now. Just the usual transfer gossip. It is a bit harder to tell what comes from a journalist these days since Twitter took away unpaid verification.
I think todays flavour of the month is Xavi Simons. The only reason that link has come up is because his agent is Darren (son of David) Dein.
Not really sure why that is relevant. Darren was an agent for many an Arsenal player back in the 00s and was key in engineering most of them a move away from Arsenal.
The Declan Rice deal is still making a lot of noise. Ignore it. Nothing will happen until after the England internationals.
Have a great Saturday. The grass won’t cut itself.
Over the course of the season we had 32 players go out a combined 38 loan spells, with 6 players being loaned to 2 different clubs.
So how did these players get on? And what does the future hold for them at Arsenal? Don’t worry, we will not be running through all 32 players! We are only going to have a look at 15 of the most senior players…
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – Southampton
Was part of the Southampton squad that got relegated. In and out of the team and only ended up starting 13 games. Completed 90 minutes on just 9 occasions. Victim of his own versatility, playing central midfield, left back and right back.
Future – Turns 26 in August and with his contract expiring, it is unlikely he or Arsenal will have any interest in renewing. Arsenal blocking the £20million move to Wolves in 2020 looks a huge mistake.
Albert Sambi Lokonga – Crystal Palace
Started 5 Premier League games on the spin following his January move to Crystal Palace. Began to look like a decent player. The Patrick Vieira was sacked and he was rarely seen again under Roy Hodgsen. Failed to make a start as Roy led Palace to 5 wins from their last 10 games.
Future – Worrying that he fell out of the Palace team coincided with their upturn in form. Unlikely to be part of Mikel Arteta’s plans. Ideally we would like to sell him in the summer, but might have to settle for another loan. Probably to Burnley.
Arthur Okonkwo – Crewe Alexandra and Sturm Graz
Highly rated 21-year-old goalkeeper started every league game for 3rd tier Crewe before Arsenal recalled him in January. Then sent straight out to Sturm Graz where he was first choice in the Austrian Bundesliga. Conceded 53 goals in 44 games across both loan spells, keeping 16 clean sheets.
Future – Arsenal need to make a decision on Okonkwo and Karl Hein. Both are 21 and a similar level. Both home-grown. One will be kept and the other probably loaned out again.
Auston Trusty – Birmingham City
Became a fan favourite, starting 44 out of 46 Championship fixtures. Performances led to first call up for the United Statesand his value skyrocket.
Future – Possibly found his level in the Championship. Might do a job at a lower end of the Premier League. Expect Arsenal to sell and make a good profit on their £1.5million investment.
Brooke Norton-Cuffy – Rotherham and Coventry
Played regularly for Rotherham at the start, but found himself in and out of the team towards the end, starting just 5 of his last 11 Championship games. In the space of 24 hours, Arsenal recalled him and sent him to Coventry. Started 17 time as Coventry made the play-offs. Also started all 3 playoff games including their final defeat to Luton. The attacking right back spent much of his time playing right wing / right wing back at both clubs.
Future – Still only 19. The concern will be is he is a traditional right back who likes to get up and down the touchline, and is not suitable to Arteta’s inverted demands. Reuell Walters has potentially jumped ahead of him in the pecking order. Plenty of Premier League club’s will be looking at Norton-Cuffy. Could see him as a long-term replacement for Kieran Trippier at Newcastle.
Cédric Soares – Fulham
Disappointing loan spell at Fulham saw him start just twice for the West London club. Came off the bench on 4 occasions.
Future – Turns 32 in August with a year left on his contract, I would be surprised if Arsenal can get anyone to take on his wages. Question is whether he has the ambition to play, or is happy staying at Arsenal and being paid a few million to turn up to training.
Charlie Patino – Blackpool
Started off brightly for Blackpool in a new deeper role, but his form tailed off as his loan-club hurtled towards relegation. Still struggles to impose himself in games and looks to be still struggling with the step up from youth football to senior.
Future – Having seen his former teammates move abroad, play regular top flight football and become established international stars, it is no surprise he is looking for a move away from Arsenal. Germany beckons.
Folarin Balogun – Reims
20 goals in 36 Ligue 1 games is impressive, with Balogun outscoring Lionel Messi as the headline. But that needs to be offset with Alexandre Lacazette scoring 7 more than him. And we all know Laca struggled for goals in the Premier League – never scoring more than 14. Only Lionel Messi had a worse shot to goal conversion rate (FB: 20%) in the top flight of French football, and Balogun had the 2nd worst shot accuracy of France’s top 10 gal scorers. Just 2 assists shows that when he was not scoring, he was not contributing much else.
Future – Balogun wants assurances of first team football at Arsenal, something which the underlying stats behind the goals show he is not ready for. Reminds me of Andy Cole in that he needs a lot of chances to score. Expect him to get a big money move elsewhere where he will grab himself 10-15 goals a season. Balogun is the level of a Tammy Abraham or Dominic Solanke.
Marquinhos – Norwich City
After spending the first half of the season acclimatising to England, the Brazlian was loaned out to Norwich City. A goal and assist on his Championship debut promised a lot, but they would be his only goal contributions in his 8 starts.
Future – Needs another Championship loan, and to play regularly for a full season. Can see him at one of the recently relegated clubs.
Miguel Azeez – Ibiza and Wigan
Recalled from the party island in January, Azeez would start his first two games for Wigan under Kolo Toure prior to the former-Arsenal man being sacked. New Wigan manager Shaun Maloney called on Azeez to “to train hard, be a good team-mate and fight for his spot in the 18”, and Azeez would fail to even appear in the bench again. This led Azeez’s dad to comment “the new manager came in and hasn’t really trusted him, which has been disappointing.”
Future – Questions have to be asked about those Maloney quotes. Was Azeez not training hard enough? What does he mean by “be a good team-mate”. Has no future at Arsenal.
Nicolas Pepe – Nice
Started off well for Nice with 6 goals in his first 15 league games. A knee injury then disrupted his season before he was left out of the squad for the last 7 games of the season. Played 19 league games in total for Nice. Maybe there was a clause in his contract where they had to pay a bit more after he played 20 times in the league?
Future – Two years left on his contract, if Arsenal can find a buyer willing to pay over £20million, he will be off.
Nuno Tavares – Marseille
Made headlines with 3 goals in his first 4 games for Marseille. But that hid the fact that he was poor defensively. Ending up playing more as a winger than a left back, his erratic play led him to being unpredictable and inconsistent. Ended up falling out with Marseille coaching staff for not working hard enough.
Future – One of those that falls under the label “how is an opponent supposed to know what he is doing if he does not”.Marseille seem to have little interest in making the loan deal permanent. Not good enough for Arsenal.
Pablo Marí – Monza
Second loan spell in Italy. Was caught up in an attack in Milan which saw one man died. The World Cup break gave him the time to recover and play a key part as Monza finished 8th.
Future – A good player who simply became surplus to requirements as we signed a better player (Gabriel). A £6million is already reportedly be done to make the loan move permanent.
Runar Alex Runarsson – Alanyaspor
24 starts in the Turkish Super Lig. He started all but 2 games for Alanyaspor, who finished 11th. Oddly missed their final game due to a suspension having picked up too many yellow cards for time wasting.
Future – Found his level playing in a lesser league for a lesser team. Arsenal contract expires in a year. Will probably be loaned out again rather than sold.
Tyreece John-Jules – Ipswich Town
3 goals in 17 games for Ipswich Town. An injury in October saw him return to Arsenal and miss out on Ipswich’s promotion drive.
Future – Now 22, the 4-year deal he signed in 2019 is due to expire this summer. Arsenal will continue allowing him to use the services of their medical facilities until he is fit enough to find a new club.
Summary
The loan system is important for players development. It shows whether they are ready to step up and become part of the first team or are simply not good enough and should be sold on.
Some players found their level and will go on to have good careers. Others might have to rebuild their careers at an even lower level.
The two most of us kept an eye on – Patino and Balogun –had contrasting seasons.
Patino showed he is a long way from regular top levelfootball, whilst Balogun showed he is well on the way to fulfilling his potential.
The club probably would have liked the pair to have one more season on loan prior to a decision being made on them in 24, but both seem to want to move this summer.
All those mentioned on this list will be sold (bar Marquinhos) if the right offer comes in. And then it is on to focusing on the next generation.
Keenos
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The 2022/23 season is not even cold yet and transfer silly season has already began.
The Declan Rice talk has been non-stop since Christmas. The latest rumour being that the two clubs are a long way apart on valuation, but the deal would probably happen.
Then we have Moises Caicedo. Apparently Brighton expect Arsenal to pay the fee. Whatever that is.
Elye Wahi is a new name to me. Google shows he scored 17 league goals in Ligue 1 last season. 3 less than Folarin Balogun.
Next up it is Arda Guler. Nope. Me neither.
We are also chasing Leeds United’s Wilfried Gnonto and Brazilian “wonderkid” Marcos Leonardo.
Then there is the talk of William Saliba’s wage demands “shocking” the Arsenal board.
And all of this in the last 24 hours.
With fees quoted, I make it over £300m spent by Arsenal on the 6 players mentioned above. At least we will recoup some of it when we sell Saliba to whoever we will be linked with today.
How about we get involved in a bit of fun? Vote Arsenal for biggest overachievers this season.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 