Thought it might be useful to track Arsenal players on loan, outside of the Other Teams, U18/U21 or the Transfer thread. By my count, Arsenal have 24 total players on loan which I feel like is more than the club have ever had and perhaps represent a different approach to development. I've listed them below and separated by league tier, let me know if I missed anyone. First team players: Ainsley Maitland-Niles - Southampton (EPL) Nicolas Pepe - Nice (Ligue 1) Nuno Tavares - Marseille (Ligue 1) Pablo Mari - Monza (Serie A) Runar Alex Runarsson - Alanyspor (Turkish Super Lig) Auston Trusty - Birmingham (Championship) Youth players: Florian Balogun - Stade Reims (Ligue 1) Omar Rekik - Sparta Rotterdam (Eredivisie) Mika Biereth - Waalwijk (Eredivisie) Ryan Alebiosu - Kilmarnock (Scottish Premiership) Charlie Patino - Blackpool (Championship) Brooke Norton-Cuffy - Rotherham (Championship) Harry Clarke - Stoke City (Championship) Salah-Eddine Oulad M'Hand - Hull (Championship) Miguel Azeez - Ibiza (La Liga 2) Marcelo Flores - Real Oviedo (La Liga 2) Nikolaj Moller - Den Bosche (Dutch Eerste Divisie) Alex Kirk - Ayr United (Scottish Championship) Tyreece John-Jules - Ipswich (League One) Mazeed Ogungbo - Crawley Town (League Two) Arthur Okonkwo - Crewe (League Two) Tom Smith - Bromley (National League) Tim Akinola - Chesterfield (National League) Ovie Ejeheri - Chelmsford (National League South)
John jules is apparently doing well and we have balo and nuno killing it in France Blackpool fans like Patino and cuffy is doing well apparently some promising players that can carve a first team path one day
I know AMN & M'Hand have buy options. Runarsson & Mari might (don't recall). No other youth players do.
Also... Biereth started off really good. Haven't seen a report recently so not sure if he dropped off a bit or if I just missed. Flores doing well enough that he has been starting as a SS for Oviedo.
I think Mari has a buy obligation if Monza avoid relegation. Which...they currently have 0 points from 4 matches and a -9 goal diff.
according to bird, biereth is back at the club recovering from an injury. According to this, Mika Biereth (who is on loan at RKC Waalwijk) is injured and is currently back in England. https://t.co/IJJwErDKM9— Jeorge Bird (@jeorgebird) August 29, 2022
athletic had a piece a while ago on knapper and how we're forming relationships with certain clubs and managers to find solid landing places for loanees. it feels far, far more organised than it was previously. in the same way that eduteta seems to be more ruthless with letting people go, it feels like they're more willing to come up a bit short (in personnel) for the sake of long term development rather stick with wenger's "but we might have an injury" philosophy. i am 100% on board.
If this is true, does Mertesacker get a nod for this, or does this sort of thing more happen at the front office level? Your assessment does seem to be the case. I too am all for it, for now. The only way a big club can be 2 deep at every position like City or Madrid is if players can be sold on the idea of competing for 4 trophies a season. We aren't there yet.
no, different. apparently, people think mertesacker has done a great job as academy head, though. he seems to be in step with eduteta and focus heavy on character/makeup. and the kids coming up seems to be more than just athletes but also have footballing instincts. the loan manager is ben knapper and he seems to be doing a solid job. letting kids go out seems to be eduteta being comfortable with coming up short on personnel in case of injuries.
I could be mis-remembering, but I believe in an interview with Per that he suggested he has input on which players are ready for loan moves. With most of the the academy kids it makes more sense for him to have input than Arteta and probably as much input as Edu.
that wouldn't surprise me. but finding the right place and establishing relationships with specific organisations is apparently knapper's job.
The Short Fuse with updates on all loanees: https://theshortfuse.sbnation.com/2...1-folarin-balogun-marcelo-flores-miguel-azeez https://theshortfuse.sbnation.com/2...sley-maitland-niles-arthur-okonkwo-pablo-mari https://theshortfuse.sbnation.com/2...epe-nuno-tavares-auston-trusty-charlie-patino Auston Trusty might be interesting, played every minute for Birmingham in the Championship so far. Left footed CBs are all the rage. Maybe if Rob Holding decides to move on next summer Trusty could back up Gabriel? Charlie Patino is back from injury and scored against Millwall today.
i found this to be an interesting bit. Ralph Hasenhüttl on Maitland-Niles: “I think he’s a very good player on the ball but he has to learn that our game starts when the ball is not with us. You can see this is something he still has to learn. We are investing our time to make him better.” [@Dangeorge47] #afc pic.twitter.com/M1Wy3CVHHr— afcstuff (@afcstuff) September 16, 2022 like, we know he's a good on-ball defender and a solid, if not particularly creative, maintainer of the ball. but this quote suggests to me he's not particularly aggressive in chasing down the ball out of possession and, for me, that feels like it might be the telling thing why he never could find long-term purchase with arteta, given how important that is with him.
most notes i've seen have lean towards what the article suggest - that is it's a move to cycle MLS talent into english and european football - but, i mean, if he can show some things in the championship, not a lot would be asked of a CB4/CB5 and, like you said, he's left-footed.
heh. that is amazing to hear, though. holding is reaching an age where it wouldn't be terribly shocking for him to want first team action this offseason.
Yeah my friend who works with the club and sees them at training g says he’s a nice guys (loves ai and the sixers lulz) and has been excellent for them in the championship even though their form has been up and down
Assuming Balogun continues his current form and has reached the double digits in goals by January, for a team in danger of relegation, does the prospect of having him back next season impact Arsenal’s January business?
i don't see how it would. striker does not appear to be a target for eduteta but rather winger and defensive midfieder. and balogun and nketiah does not affect the type of winger that would be targeted.
i don't know how good crewe is in relation to their league but, holy hell, that's impressive returns. Arthur Okonkwo has kept five clean sheets in eleven League Two games on loan at Crewe this season. pic.twitter.com/gZj5v6NL84— Jeorge Bird (@jeorgebird) October 2, 2022