I can understand Arsene Wenger letting a number of Arsenal forwards go out on loan this season. After all, we have a massive squad and as has been proved by Francis Coquelin just this year, it is important for young players to play in order to progress and make it as professional footballers.
So with the likes of Giroud, Sanogo, Alexis, Campbell, Podolski and Welbeck at the club, it was hardly a surprise for our academy player Benik Afobe to go out on loan at the start of the season. What is a little harder to understand, however, is why Arsenal then agreed to sell the striker when he started banging in the goals.
This is a player that equalled Michael Owen’s long standing England under 16s scoring record a few years ago and helped the under 17s to win the 2010 Euros. So even though his 19 goals in 30 games were for a League One club, it was clear that Afobe was a class act.
The art of sticking the ball in the onion bag is one of the hardest and most sought after in football, so I bet the Championship club Wolves could not believe their luck that we were willing to sell – and his eight goals in 13 games for them so far have only made our decision a bit harder to fathom.
Just to rub it in, a Metro report has revealed that Afobe is now the most prolific striker in the whole country with 27 goals. And the way that Wolves are going, he could be playing in the Premier League next season. What are the chances that he would score against his old club? Have Arsenal made a big mistake in letting him go?