Players returning may not always be a good thing! (opinion)
This summer has been a crazy transfer window with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku returning to their old clubs.
But just how much of a positive thing is it when players go back to the club they once played at?
The answer to that would always be based on the performance of the player during their return. For some it is the best move ever and for others it may not work out the way they had imagined it to.
Although both Ronaldo and Lukaku after both plying their trades in and around Europe have had a good return so far.
I guess it could be argued that loan spells are somewhat similar to players returning once leaving a club for a second spell. The difference with a loan spell is that you know for sure the player will be returning for a small period at least, but with a permanent move away it’s not always guaranteed the player will ever return.
As a beloved Arsenal fan, with the many players we have had throughout the years where some have gone on to great things and some not so great, I can’t really think of any that we have either wanted to come back again or have come back.
The one and only player that springs to mind for me, whom I was privileged enough to see live both in his first and second spells, where I remember the emotion and still feel the goosebumps like it was yesterday was when Thierry Henry, our legend, our king, returned home in 2012.
He came on as a sub at 0-0 against Leeds United in the FA Cup and did what only he does, he scored the winner in a 1-0 win that saw the Emirates erupt, tears flow and Henry jump into the arms of Monsieur Wenger. To take us through to the fourth round, in a game in which our current manager was also playing.
The goal as clear as daylight in my mind still to this day, but had the script been written it would not have worked out that way.
It’s not always positive though, as Sead Kolasinac experienced more recently when he went on loan last season to his old club Schalke 04. After they won only three games they were relegated at the end of the season, and to be fair to Kolasinac the damage was already done before he arrived, although he knew he would be returning to Arsenal at the end of it it must have hurt to see his old side go down.
When players have the option to return to their previous clubs sometimes the dream is always better than the reality, as it will not always work out for the best. Not that that is the players fault but sometimes things do not always go as you plan or wish them to.
Could it have gone any better for Henry on his return? No.
Would we want any other player to come back like Ronaldo and Lukaku have done? I don’t think I would be able to handle the disappointment if it didn’t work out.
Henry was an exception and he lived up to it as only a king would.
And let’s be honest us Arsenal fans have been through enough upset and disappointment, more so recently, to have one of our former players/possible legends return and not do well.
So, I think it is safe to say as nice as Henry coming back was, lets live with the memories our legends and players have created over the years and move forward with the new, fresh and up and coming talent rather than looking back and trying to recreate the past!
Gooners, would you bring any former player/legend back given the chance?
Shenel Osman
@sh3n3l_
Dan Smith stars in this week’s The Just Arsenal Show ahead of the Crystal Palace match