You may have seen today that Arsenal have loaned out our young goalkeeper Ryan Huddart to National League side Eastleigh FC, on a season long loan.
Huddart is yet to make his Arsenal debut with the first team, although has been named in the match day squad on a few occasions, most notably in the Champions League ties against Dortmund and Anderlecht. At 19 years old, Huddart needs to making more of a name for himself at Arsenal, because although he is still young, especially for a goalkeeper, time will soon be running out for the Englishman if he is to make or break it at the club.
The thing that concerns me most about Huddart, is that at 19 years old and supposedly being a goalkeeper that Arsenal want to keep on their books, how is the best team that the Gunners can find him is a side in the National League. Of course no disrespect to the league or Eastleigh FC, but if Huddart is only good enough to play regularly for a side at the national league level, then in my opinion, he is very unlikely to make it at Arsenal. At 19 years old, you should be looking at starting your career as a player regularly appearing for your club, but that isn’t going to happen for Huddart.
Thinking about Huddart’s situation at Arsenal, he also has Petr Cech to displace, who still has a fair few years in him, and after that David Ospina, Wojciech Szczesny and even Damien Martinez ahead of him. Martinez, who by the way, I also think has lost his chance of ever becoming Arsenal’s number one. But what I don’t get is why are we keeping a player like Ryan Huddart at the club and sending him out on loan, if we know that he doesn’t hold the ability or potential ability to play at the level that Arsenal stand at. Thinking about those times he was in Champions League squads, he was there because of injuries, not on merit.
For me, Huddart doesn’t have a future at Arsenal, so instead of seemingly sending the youngster out on loan for the next season and then possibly again until his contract expires, why don’t we just sell him on or release him now?
By AH