Miguel Azeez has opened up on his loan spell at Portsmouth and admits he is still in the learning phase.
The youngster is one of the best academy players on the books of Arsenal at the moment.
The Gunners don’t have space to hand him first-team minutes and they have sent him to Pompey on loan for the rest of this season.
He hasn’t had so many playing minutes at the club, but he was featured in their 1-0 win over Harrow in the FA Cup this weekend.
He spoke to his loan club’s media afterwards and admitted that he is still learning and worked very hard to earn the chance.
The midfielder said, as quoted by the Pompey website: “I was really pleased and have been working hard in training in order to get the opportunity.
“Hopefully I can stay in the side and be able to build on this because I’ve been learning a lot – both on and off the pitch.
“I’ll play anywhere, but I enjoyed the role I was given because it allowed me to express myself in an attacking sense.
“It means that when we were able to win back possession, I was closer to the goal in order to make an impact.
“I’m enjoying my time here and it’s helped my development as a player, with the mental side just as important as the physical and technical.”
Azeez needs to play more regularly to reach the potential that Arsenal knows he has.
The midfielder is looking to break into the Gunners’ senior team like the likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
However, a lack of playing time to help him develop his talents could deny him the chance to earn a spot at the Emirates.
He will hope to have impressed his loan manager enough to earn more playing time as the season progresses.
I must admit that I’m more than a little disappointed in the lack of playing time he’s received thus far…if he can’t make more of a sizeable impact during the remainder of the year, it would appear as if we either made a poor decision about who he was loaned out to or he’s not nearly as far along in the developmental process as I thought he was…both would be a shame, so I’m hoping this is but a minor hiccup in the process
TRVL-the player was out injured for a month.I have a Pompey mate who says he looks very comfortable on the ball and was not put off by the physical side of the game. He looks a good prospect this boy- if we get Europe Nr t year he will get game time with is
From what I’ve read/heard there’s some questions surrounding the whole “injury” gig, much like with Reiss…nonetheless I’m trying to remain positive about his loan move, which is why I stated that I genuinely hoped this was but a “hiccup” in an otherwise productive loan stay…Cheers Phil and I hope your mate is spot on with his assessment
We are generally quite bad with our loan players, they often just seem to stagnate on the bench.
Did we send Azeez over there to train hard? No, he can do that at AFC. We really need to send our boys to clubs that will actually give them a decent run.
A lot of people forget how much a player can grow and learn from effective training when the player has a hard working attitude. You can “develop your talents” on the training ground. Good for you, Miguel, and well said.
Most importantly, much more so than playing time right now, is his attitude. Sounds like a hard-working boy who is headed for a bright future bc of said attitude.