Kevin Campbell says Willock might decide to leave Arsenal this summer after enjoying regular playing time at Newcastle United in this second half of the season.
The Englishman had spent the rest of the campaign out on loan at Steve Bruce’s side.
He was in fine form and scored 8 goals for them in the Premier League to help them avoid relegation.
He also remarkably scored a goal in each of his last seven league games for Bruce’s side.
The 21-year-old has undoubtedly proven his quality in the North East and should even have teams looking to sign him when the transfer window reopens.
He, however, has also earned the right to fight for a place at Arsenal, but Campbell reckons that he would still struggle to get Mikel Arteta to play him.
He says he must have felt pressure yet thrived at Newcastle United, however, the pressure at Arsenal is different and he might not deliver the same level of performance.
He told Football Insider: “Willock might say: ‘No, I want to go’.
“For him to come back and be battling the likes of Thomas Partey and other quality midfielders is a tough ask.
“He’ll be thinking: ‘I know I can go and play. I’ve proven I can do it’. And It’s not all low teams either.
“He’s scored against Liverpool, he’s scored against Spurs, he’s scored important goals as well.
“He’s probably one of the main reasons why Newcastle have stayed up with games to spare. It’s been an incredible loan spell.
“That’s what the loan system is for, to see how these players get on. He’s proved that he can do it.
“The key thing is, will he have that confidence coming back to Arsenal? There won’t be a lot of chances.
“When he gets his chances, can he look like the player he was at Newcastle? There is pressure at Newcastle but the pressure is different at Arsenal.”
I’m not having a dig at MA but he has proven that he has favourites. If you aren’t one of them you WILL spend the majority of the time on the bench. Add micro managing and no freedom on the pitch.
Willock’s already played for MA so he knows where he stands. We need goal scoring mids but our extremely slow build up play means any midfielder will struggle to score.
I think it would be best to sell while he’s the talk of the town. I just don’t see him being utilised properly at Arsenal
We cant keep every player
There will be new signings and more young talent coming through from the Academy
If Willock has to go to play and improve then he has to go
for many seasons we have to let players go to play thats unfortunate but we have to
If Willock can develop as a fine and quality player under other manager and MA doesn’t think he is in his plan and agree to sell; Arsenal should let him go. Just like Serge Gnabry. We should not retard a talented player.
Only the owner can sack MA but not the fans. Fans can only make noise when we go back to stadium to show our displeasure. As MA has the support and rapport with the owner, he will be here for long. I believe the owner will give him money to buy players, Arsene can spend only after the stadium was paid up. Arsene had to go because he spent the money but not in top 4 for last 2 seasons. The KPI for Arsene is much higher than MA.
However, this is a monitoring season for MA and there will be no excuse if he fails. The first 10 games …
Good managers are hard to come by.
I like Willock as a player, he has good ball control and finishing ability. Goal-scoring midfielders are rare and often command hefty fees. He scored goals in Premier League, not many foreign players could do that or they need a significant period of adaptation before they could perform.
At the time that we struggled to score, I thought that Willock could help with that but unfortunately, he was used sparsely. On a rare occasion that he played from the start, something always interferes. Like when Pepe got a red card.