The newspapers have been packed full of rumours of a mass overhaul at the Emirates this week, which, despite some initial debate, has been taken with a pinch of salt by the majority of fans. However, with a number of exciting youngsters returning from loan spells and ready to make an assault on the Arsenal first-team, the speculation is somewhat warranted.
At times this season it’s been hard to see what Tomáš Rosický, Denílson, Sébastien Squillaci and arguably a couple more offer to the squad that Francis Coquelin, Henri Lansbury and Kyle Bartley can’t. All three players have had impressive loans this year and seem the most likely to compete for a first-team spot next season.
Lansbury has turned in some sterling performances and added vital goals to aid Norwich City’s push for automatic promotion, and Coquelin, despite not starting a game since his sending off in February, has racked up plenty of minutes to help Lorient maintain a mid table spot in Ligue One.
Bartley has gone from strength to strength during his spells with Sheffield United and then Rangers, with a particular highlight being his performance at Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League. Unfortunately for Kyle, his spell at Rangers was cut short due to injury, but the Englishman has surely done enough to convince Arsène Wenger that he has all the attributes to suit Premier League football next season.
With all three returning as better players, their prerogative now is to join last year’s loanee Jack Wilshere in not only the first team squad, but the starting eleven. Should that fail to materialise, Wenger runs the risk of losing some of his most prized young assets.
The two maybe men, Carlos Vela and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas have both shown potential when given a chance, but that is the problem; when. Emmanuel-Thomas’ inconsistency and Vela’s lack of opportunity have dealt them no favours, and they may have to settle for further time on loan, or a permanent move away.
The recent outlandish talk of Gael Clichy leaving in the summer has left to some talk about the returning duo of Armand Traoré and the ever improving Pedro Botelho. Juventus have already indicated they are not interested in signing Traoré, so an unhappy return to the reserves looks most likely, unless Arsenal can find a buyer. Botelho should offer competition to the injury prone Gibbs for the right to be Clichy’s understudy.
Elsewhere, Ryo Miyaichi has blossomed at Feyenoord and may be granted a work permit in the summer, only then will Arsenal decide on whether to send the impressive youngster out on loan for a following year or offer a first-team place. However, for other foreign loanees Samuel Galindo and Wellington, they have failed to gain much playing time, and a work permit seems a little far off at the moment, so further loan periods are expected in the near future.
After some encouraging displays at Huddersfield, it is likely Benik Afobe will also go back out on loan for a following season, to help the teenager gain further first team experience.
Unfortunately for Mark Randall, Craig Eastmond, Sanchez Watt and Gilles Sunu, it could be the end of their road with Arsenal, as they have all failed to make an impression at their clubs. The lucky few could be given a chance to prove themselves on loan again next season, but moving on to pastures new is their best option.
As Arsenal’s title challenge hangs in the balance, so does the future of several young Arsenal players who seem destined to leave this summer. Yet with the impending return of some of the most promising young players the club have had for a long time, perhaps the papers are not too far off in suggesting a summer clear out.
Great post. How many games are Arsenal playing the Dallas Cup minium? I know there play more if they go through to the next round? What would your starting 11 be for the dallas cup?
3 matches need to win group! Google Dallas Cup great website!Games will be on Ustream? Enjoy!
Is Carl Jenkinson still joining from Charlton? If so, Clichy, Gibbs and Jenkinson? I assume the latter will start in the Reserves – what do you think?
Carl Jenkinson is a RB
And what about Traore?
You seriously think Sunu and Watt will be gone next year? And Eastmond, whilst not rated by us, isnt he rated by Wenger?
Wenger rates Watt highly, so i doubt he’ll be leaving any time soon.
Sunu and Eastmond do not have what it takes to play for Arsenal.
Sunu will likely stay on at Lorient for another season before been sold and Eastmond will just be another Randall
Wenger also spoke highly of kerrea gilbert and strongly considered making senderos captain.
What he says and what he does are usually 2 different things.
Great piece! Just a couple of questions:
1. Would Coquelin go up against Frimpong for the right to be Alex Song’s deputy?
2. Would Kyle Bartley’s return mean a loan move for Ignasi Miquel? Or would Bartley get moved up to the DM scrum with Coquelin and Frimpong?
Coquelin could fill RB too and i don’t think 3 defensive midfielders are too much at all. Yes Miquel could go on loan, no way will Wenger move Bartley to DM.
Unfortunately for Frimpong I think his injury has put him back a bit and will head out on loan (arguably would of been doing so anyway). I also think Bartley is being groomed for cb, but reminds me of a young Rio Ferdinand….can play in either position.
I’m rather confused about Wellington at the moment. While he has been built up to be a star of the future, it seems he has failed to adjust to life in Europe and spends an AWFULLY LONG TIME on Twitter.
I’m hoping that with Ryo’s work permit being sorted, perhaps a loan move to a premier league club will be useful.
he doesnt twitt on the pitch.
he got sent to a wrong team, lavante are being irresponsible for failing to support a young player away from home. if he fails to win work permit arsenal should send him to a better team. remember botelho had the same problem. he matured up and recovered maybe wellington will do the same or maybe not. but the bottomline is that we shouldnt loan any of our young players to lavante.
We have to many youngsters out on loan and not all of them are going to make it at Arsenal. Is it time to cash in on a few of them or do we loan them to prem teams to see if they have what it takes??
LOANS/LAST CHANCE SALOON (prem loans)
*Vela
*JET
*BARTLEY
*Mannone
SELL
*Randall.
*Sunu.
*Traore.
*Craig “party to much ‘Eastmond.
mannone is almunia’s replacement, what do you mean last chance?
he will play for first team next season
Jamie, in the chat you had last week, nobody asked you specifically about JET. With Bendtner and his father saying that he should be in the starting XI or move this summer (something that’s not going to happen at least for the next 3 years when RVP is fit, so a move is very likely), we all had the hope that JET could fill his place, but what’s happening with this guy?? he seamed so talented and yet his loan spell has been a disgrace… Cheers mate, great blog!
JET”s loan move hasnt been a disgrace. He’s played a few games and has done well when he has featured. Cardiff are pushing for promotion and will play senior players at a stage like this.
JET can see up close how professionals comport themselves in the stressful context of a promotion push. JET has been the man around the youths for a few years now, so if nothing else he needs to be in a squad of men and managers who will treat him like the (awesomely talented) youngster that he is. If this loan provides this then it will have served a massively useful purpose.
Eastmond is like another denilson! Several loned players need be sold. Wit some of them coming back and having done well e.g. Landsbury,Ryo,coquin,bartley etc,i dont really think we need to buy bt sell some obviously under-performing players…but I definately will fancy a strong,powerful and skillful striker like Aguero
Eastmond is like another denilson! Several loned players need be sold. Wit some of them coming back and having done well e.g. Landsbury,Ryo,coquin,bartley etc,i dont really think we need to buy bt sell some obviously under-performing players…but I definately will fancy a strong,powerful and skillful striker like Aguero,yet de prospect of having Afobe fighting his way into de 1st team is tempting
No way! Watt is going nowhere next season. We have both rocisky and arshavin who is getting too old for us. Watt and sunu and a few more have a chance to impress and take the chance next season. Watt and Sunu could be something real big for us.
watt???? gibbs is better than him and hes a fullback.eastmond is the future karl henry.i don’t think coquelin is ready 4 the pl maybe he can feature in the cups.lansbury goes into the first team squad or is sold.
Are you joking???? Watt is no where near good enough for us, or Sunu.
The only loanees who will compete for a place in the 1st team next season are, Kyle Bartley, Henri Lansbury & Pedro Botelho.
Aguero is not a strong and powerful striker
Hve u lot 4gotten there was/are like 19 players out on loan during the course of this season. I doubt alot of these players will make it at Arsenal. Infact the players who might make the grade might surprise u.Yh kl Denilson, Rosicky and that waste of space poor excuse of a 20 plus cap center back Sebastien Squillaci IF they leave it will create space for young players to get in2 the first team. Tbh Arsenal need a cb/winger/target man
I dont want to be in the shoes of d decision makers at arsenal cos they’ve got a whole lot of decision to make in d summer & we can only hope they make the right ones.btw long time Nick love
off topic but does anyone know if theres a defender in the u 16s named chris boren or somehing?
The best thing for defensive midfielders(in this case Coquelin and Frimpong) is to play for mid-table teams until they are 23 years old. They have to play week in week out.They will make mistakes but they will not be under a lot of pressure.They will mature and have enough experience.Coquelin will turn 20 next month and he needs another 2 years on loan.We should not expect too much from him right now. The same thing goes for Frimpong who turned 19 just 3 months ago.I think Wenger has to buy Scott Parker who is 30 and will be useful for the next 2 years and then Coquelin or Frimpong can become understudies to Alex Song who will be 26 and very experienced.
Jamie – any chance you can leak a few of the criteria that Arsenal’s scouts use when they go and watch one of our own players in action on loan, say, Bartley. When you write, “the Englishman has surely done enough to impress AW…” it makes me wonder what little details (perhaps counterintuitive) the reports will be focusing on for specific positions/players. I have watched extended highlights of his games and have my own simple reactions. Just think it’d be nice to learn a bit about what club management really think ticks the important boxes to succeed in the premierleague/champion’s league.
The trouble with JETs loan spell is that although he can play the attacking MF, he is FAR FAR stronger as the CF. But like you say with Cardiff pushing for promotion their gonna play the seniors in those roles and without a solid run the first team in his strongest position he’ll never reach his potential. Which he has in barrells full, you only need to scroll YOUTUBE. Lansbury deserves a first team spot but with Ramsey, Wilshire, Fabregas and to some extent Diaby in the way. He’s not gonna be able to get there. unless of course Barca coff up our asking price for Fab in which case he’ll have a at least a slim chance. Eastmond has potential. But I dont reckon he’ll be ready for the Arsenal first team for at least a good few years yet. I think Sunu+Troare+ Randall have come as far as we can take them. As for Bendtner, the longer we keep him the less he’s worth. last season he was 15m now he’s 8m, if he continous his dry PL goals record this season he’ll be worth 4-5m by the time AW finally pulls his finger out.
I like the person that write this news is just as if he reed my mind and i agree with what he post because arsenal will first look at those player befor e looking at the market so about frimpong and henderson who are not mention i aspect frimpong to join the first team or go on loan while henderson will also go on loan to gain first team experience.
Bartley, Bothelo, Lansbury
all these player should play a part in the first team next season
as for Coquelin he really hasn’t played all that well or consistently for Lorient this season. Everytime he started to make an impact he either got injured or did something which put him back on the bench. He has improved but he still needs a season on loan and then he can really mount a challenge for a first team place but surely not this season
It will be interesting to see if Frimpong will go on loan or will he go straight into the first team
Bartley for Squillaci
Mannone for Almunia
Lansbury for Denilson
Miyaichi for Rosicky
BUY RODWELL
jamie i think you’re writing off too many players…
sunu, watt, eastmond! wenger rates all of these guys! and they are only young. and only on their 1st or second loans.
wenger doesn’t use each loan as a make-or-break test….underperform and we’ll boot you out of the club…no…players will have at least a couple loans as part of their development…
wenger will give these guys more time, definitely.
i really want to see lansbury come in to the team…he played reallly well alongside first team players against spurs in the carling cup…amazing engine, infectious energy, faultless technique…get him in there. rosicky, denilson and diaby should be on notice.
Too many ppl seem to think that all these players either need to be in the first team or sold next year but be realistic most of them are 19/20 and are still maturing,I can’t see many if any leaving permanently next season but a good few loans again to slightly better standard clubs to the ones they’ve been at this year just to see how they deal with the step up. I honestly feel almunias gone for sure and mannone steps straight in as 3rd choice,squillaci stays 1 more year and bartley will b straight up competition for him,denilsons ever deminishing role and poor performances mean he’ll go along with the innefective rosicky,Lansbury will step into the squad along with carlos vela,while I think bendtner will push for a move and I don’t think anyone will blame him as he doesn’t start many games for a different team could be one hell of a striker,jet will step in for him.As for signings in the summer I’d be suprised if there’s more than one.Players like botelho and miyachi if they join in the summer won’t get first team guarantees so would get cup games and eased in slowly.I also think we’ll try and push for premiership loans for coquelin,sunu,watt and eastmond,watt I happen to think we’ll be great for us,he can give us something different as he’s quick and can finish fantastically
JS,so you really think that Miyaichi could get a work permit for next season? Great news, that kid has bags of talent. A good pre-season and who knows how far he can progress, maybe into the senior squad, his pace would be a great asset as Walcott is the only 1st teamer blessed with pace. Hope Lansbury is given an opportunity by Wenger next season.
I think the way people should look at it is we add depth. Also can these loanees really make it at a high level? So our depth problems will get better because now we will be deep like ManU. We should keep Arshavin and Rosicky for another year. They are experienced and can help take pressure off the younger guys. Botelho is a stud. He will play left wing or fullback. He is athletic and tall. Plus he seems to have an edge about him. We need an edge sometimes. Our guys need to fight and really hate losing.
Eastmond, Sunu, Watt, Vela and JET are all talented and good. Are they going to be great? They all need to dedicate themselves to their craft. If they don’t they wont make it. Simple as that.
Do we have some lost in translation here . . . Calling someone a stud means you fancy the pants off the sexy beast – is this what you meant or does it mean he’s a great talent/player ?
Cannot agree about keeping Arshavin and Rosicky, i am sure both will be out of contract in a year as will Clichy. These 3 along with Almunia, Lehmann, McDermott, Eboue, Squillaci, Hoyte, Traore, Eastmond, Cruise, Randall, Denilson, Diaby, Vela, Bendtner, Sunu, Watt & Murphy are the players that i believe are most likely to be considered “available” add the proceeds of that lot to a war chest of £40m and you could have £120m to spend, but would you want Wenger spending it? BTW even if we sold these 20 players and brought no-one in, we would still have 41 professionals on the books, which is more than most of our rivals have now.
Wenger is accumulating talent. That does not mean they will all make the team. Look at Justin Hoyte. We made a bundle of money on a good player but not one good enough for our first team. It helps pay for our academy. If you have 20 youngers and 4 of them become part of the first team, than that is acceptable.
That said, I really think we have some high quality players coming up. Lansbury, Frimpong, Botelho, Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey, Afobe etc… I am excited.
hazard will be an arsenal signing in the summer because fabregas is a gonna go i cant belive none of use can see it,hes body language tells u. he is meant to be or captain he doesn’t want to be here no more…….. i think he is are best player by miles but who wants a player when they wanna leave. denilson will stay he is not been great this season but he defo has talented passing and a great shot he needs to work on hes strength and stamina he is still a young man.
How’s this for a scenario: Rosicky, Squillaci, and so-on don’t leave in the summer – but instead, compete for places with the likes of Bartley, JET, etc. May the best men win :)
Honestly, though, I think we’ll be doing very well if two or three of the loanees make the first teem next season. That’s always the way. Others could well go on loan again, for no reason except that they’re not good enough _yet_. Giving Lansbury or Coquelin or some such six months or a season on loan in the Premiership would make a great deal of sense, depending on exactly where they are.
The one thing I would think is pretty likely is that Bartley will be (at least) 5th choice CB next year, giving us extra cover and competing with Squillaci.
We should get rid off Eastmond, Watt, Sunu, Randall and Hoyte.
Send the rest of them good enough on loan. Maybe promote Bartley to 1st team. That should be it.
Jamie your Javascript code to prevent copying is highly annoying even for the legitimate users. YOu should get rid of it. If someone really wants to copy the articles, they can copy from the page source too. It’s messing up the comment box too as you can’t even highlight text to change something or even move the text cursor while typing. Terrible
If you look back at Arsenal’s transfer record in the last couple years, they always add at least one important player in the summer. Nasri in 08, Vermaelen in 09, and then last summer we see Chamakh, Koscielny, and Squillaci (this was a little different, with 3/4 of Arsenal’s CBs departing the club).
Assuming this trend of adding at least one player to the club continues, where is it most likely to be? In the midfield where Song is the only true DM? An attacking player with more strength and power than Arsenal’s current wingers who could also deputize at striker? Or finally a LB to replace Clichy?
jamie, you seem to think Arsene will stick with the current players and returning loannees whenever people ask you about transfers. i agree this will be the case for the most part, but he has to bring in one veteran transfer. Where will it be?
to answer my own question, i would not be surprised if Bendtner asks for a transfer and is replaced with a player that can operate on both the wing and centrally up front. Players like Rooney, Kuyt, Benzema give their clubs massive flexibility because they can play in both positions. Arsenal do not have that type of player and would do well to add one.
podolski would be a good target, but wenger never goes for the big names
Excellent analysis. Lansbury, Frimpong, Coquelin, and Bartley all deserve a chance next season to come in, freshen the squad, and inject more hunger.
Miyaichi should be able to get a work permit this summer as long as he gets a couple of international games with Japan (the Japanese coach has indicated he will get games in the Kirin Cup & Copa America).
Vela should go unless the boss is contemplating playing two up front. Vela will never make it as a solo centre forward, and I don’t see him making any impact on the wing.
JET is borderline for me. Can he be a replacement for Bendtner and allowed to grow as third choice behind RvP and Chamakh? I’m not so sure and maybe he needs another season of maturing on loan, hopefully within the Premier League. Lukaku might be a good option, but I would prefer we sign Eden Hazard first if we had the money to spend.
I believe that Lansbury, Pedro, Bartley and hopefully Miyaichi are all given the chance to join the first-team next season.
I don’t think that Eastmond, Watt, Emmanuel-Thomas, Vela and Coquelin are going to have much of a future with the club. Bear in mind that Henderson and Frimpong will also be in contention while Ramsey is essentially a new signing.
I’d like to see the likes of Diaby, Denilson, Eboue, Rosicky and Bendtner shipped out this summer and I reckon Fabregas will finally go to Barcelona.
This means that Wenger will have plenty of cash to spend on a replacement. The likes of Hazard, Sakho and Lukaku could come into contention.
From within the Premier League, it would be a massive mistake to let Ashley Young sign for Man United, Man City or Chelsea… We could offer Villa a cash plus player deal that could entice them. I believe Scott Parker, particularly if West Ham are relegated, could be a pivotal signing for Arsenal in the summer