Is Jenkinson good enough to be an Arsenal reserve?

Carl Jenkinson is probably one of the biggest Gooners to ever play for the club. He is an Arsenal fan through and through and the ‘little boy inside him’ truly has a passion for Arsenal, but will Jenkinson be happy to stay with the Gunners if he doesn’t get regular playing time this season?

With the sale of Mathieu Debuchy supposedly on the cards at some time this summer, although there is little progression as of yet, it is anticipated that Carl Jenkinson will step up to the task of being Bellerin’s understudy at Arsenal.

Before Bellerin had broken onto the scene or before Debuchy had signed for Arsenal, Jenkinson was playing second fiddle to Bacary Sagna at Arsenal and got a few games here and there. I have always personally quite liked Jenkinson, although I’m not sure if it’s his passion for the club that impresses me more rather than his performances. The Englishman still has a lot to learn that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t say that he’s been poor in an Arsenal shirt.

Last season for West Ham on loan he was largely disappointing, a string of poor performances saw him dropped from the Hammers side, before injury ruled him out for the rest of the season. It was a season that was incomparable to his previous year, in which he was a very much praised player amongst the West Ham crop.

The issue that Jenkinson faces now is that he is likely to remain at Arsenal this season if Debuchy goes, but that he won’t be getting regular playing time ahead of Hector Bellerin. Bellerin has held down that spot since he first broke onto the scene and so there is little chance of Jenkinson displacing him. Jenkinson will surely make an appearance in some of the cup competitions and possibly as a substitute here and there but I can’t see him being a Premier League regular.

At 24, he still has plenty more years in professional football to offer, but he’s now moving towards the middle of his career and will surely want to be a first team regular.

So what will Jenkinson choose to do or what should Arsene Wenger consider doing with Jenkinson this season? Personally I think we could see Jenkinson remain at Arsenal this year and then if he doesn’t play regularly enough, then he could find himself wanting to move on from Arsenal, no matter how much he may loves the club.

By AH

19 Comments

    1. No time for wishes Mate, Wenger MUST sign a striker. We can’t face the season with only Giroud. Wenger had better do it, or face the backlash from the fans!!

      1. The problem is that in Wenger’s mind it isn’t “only Giroud”
        In his mind its Giroud, Theo, Akpom, Asano

        I mean why would Theo get paid apprx £140,000 per week and play up front last season

        My point is don’t be shocked if he doesn’t get a striker or even a forward or gets a lower quality one

  1. Always thought Jenks was a good RB. The best crosser of the ball that we have had in a long while. He would be outstanding with Bellerin. Plenty of games where he can feature.

    1. lol jim your memory is warped. #
      inconsistent, prone to error , poor positional sense
      jenskinson is not good enough

      think your taking oasis dont look back in anger literally

      1. Good one MD I moved on to Beady Eye a few years back though.
        Jenks can feature against teams that pack the box because his crossing is really really good.

  2. He was a starter for West Ham. Of course he’s good enough to be BACK UP.

    Hopefully someone is fool enough to buy Debuchy from us!

  3. I say give Jenkinson a chance as 2nd back up (behind Bellerin, Debuchy)
    Chambers should focus on CB and DM

    BTW Wonder if Debuchy is staying or going?
    He returned to training at least. So maybe he is happy to stay

  4. You got teams like Leicester, Westham, Crystal Palace and Everton offering up to £30m for strikers than you have this egomaniac at Arsenal who thinks he is always right. He will start with Chuba Akpom in first game of season or Walshot in CF and say so what when the boos ring out. He says he can’t find a top striker for 3 years now, because ‘they are not available’.

    What kind of Manager puts faith in a player for 10 years and waits for him to become a top player? Yeah Walcott was ‘fighting’ for his place the end of last season, start of this season he will be in the starting 11 automatically.

    1. @HA559 … point of correction, Walcott was not fighting for his place towards the end of last season he was only TRYING to impress, so that he can be included in the England squad for the Euros… Walcott is nothing but just a FRAUD to me.

      1. ‘fighting’ was Wengers word, you are right he is a fraud to earn 140k for what he does on the pitch.

  5. This article makes no mention of jenkinsons knee injury. According to the link on this site he still has three months to go so who knows when he will be fit to play so not much point discussing how he will fit in to team.

  6. With the launch and rebranding of the under 21 league this season to the new u23 premier league2. The standard of reserve football is set to rise. It means the likes of asano, nwakali, macey, sanogo and even chamberlain are all eligible for that league along with the likes of chambers, bellerin, holding, iwobi, gnabry and akpom. There is also the opportunity to play an overage keeper and 3 outfield players, so players getting left out of the matchday squad like martinez, jenkinson, gibbs, coquelin, elneny and campbell could well be playing at old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, etihad in much higher profile reserve games to keep their fitness. Shame we also didn’t want to play in the rebranded Johnstones paint trophy, obviously wenger feels the reserves have enough on their plate.

  7. Yeah he is good enough…If our 1st option wasn’t Bellerin he would’ve probably stayed at Arsenal and featured more prominently in games as a starter. Debuchy being out of the question I would keep him at the club and make him the #2 behind Bellerin

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