I must admit I was very surprised when I saw the latest post on Arsenal.com saying that the Gunners have decided to extend Francis Coquelin’s loan period at Charlton. The original deal was to send him to the Valley for a month until this Sunday night.
He has impressed everyone at Charlton in the three games he has played so far and seems to have cemented his place in the side, but with Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere succumbing to injury this week we thought it was a certainty that Coquelin would be brought back as emergency cover, at least until the winter transfer window opened.
But Arsenal have made this announcement: “French midfielder Francis Coquelin has extended his loan with Championship side Charlton Athletic until December 30.”
“Coquelin has featured three times for Charlton since arriving at The Valley earlier this month.
“The 23-year-old, who has made 43 Arsenal first-team appearances, spent the 2013/14 campaign on loan at Freiburg. Shortly after returning to Arsenal from Germany, Coquelin showed his versatility when he played 90 minutes at left back against Southampton in the Capital One Cup.”
I don’t want to teach Arsene Wenger how to suck eggs, but right now Arsenal need as many able bodies around as possible, especially one that is capable of playing as a defensive midfielder as well as in our depleted defence. Surely it would have been a no-brainer to bring Coquelin back, especially as he is match-fit and in form. Just imagine if we get ONE MORE defender injury this weekend.
Does this make sense to anyone else out there?