There are many Arsenal first teamers and peripheral members entering the final year of their contracts this summer, and it would seem that quite a few of them will be put on the market, although there are some that we don’t want to leave.
One player that has fallen out of Wenger’s field of vision is the Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell. He was signed in 2011 as a great prospect after starring for his country, but he failed to be granted a work permit in the UK and was loaned out to Lorient in his first year, and to Real Betis for his second campaign. Even when allowed to finally join Arsenal he was loaned out yet again to Olympiakos where he put in a few fine performances.
This persuaded Wenger to give him a first team chance back at Arsenal, and despite some promising performances he rarely played or scored and after complaining about lack of game time he was sent on loan again after six months to Villarreal, where he scored just once in 15 appearances.
Last year he was finally given a League debut by Wenger and scored the first of 3 goals for the club, but he was yet again sent off on loan to Sporting Lisbon, but could hardly have been called impressive.
It is obvious now that Campbell needs to find a new club for next season, and it sounds like his agent, Joaquim Batica, is now trying to find him a new club. “Arsenal have lent him several times,” Batica said. “but I emphasise that last year he played about 30 matches in all. I think that as a 24-year-old player who has played in the Champions League, played a quarter-final of the World Cup, took part in championships in Spain, France, England, Greece, Portugal, he has a very important background. He continues to work every day to accumulate a significant number of games each year.”
He may be accumulating games, but he is hardly accumulating goals, so where do you think Campbell will finally find his level?
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