Arsenal have more than a whole team of players that have been out on loan for at least half this season, but is there any of them that have shown enough promise to make it back into contention for a first team place under Unai Emery?
First off let’s start with the older senior players and assess their chances. First off is Takano Asano, who has been out on loan Stuttgart all year. The Japanese striker only scored once in 18 appearances and hasn’t played since before Christmas. He hasn’t yet earned a work permit, and even if he does get German citizenship he may still not be able to move to the UK if the Brexit negotiations don’t go well. I don’t think he has really proved himself anyway and he is already set to go back on loan next season at German minnows Hannover, who finished 13th behind Bayern Munich last season. “I’m very happy to come to Hannover and I’m going to go full throttle to repay the club’s confidence in me and make the 96 fans happy,” Takuma said.
Good luck with that, but honestly I don’t see him ever coming to Arsenal and we will just hope we can recoup the 2m GBP that we paid for him a few years ago….
Joel Campbell is another cheap buy that has never really settled at Arsenal and the Costa Rica star thought he should have been a regular starter under Wenger after just a couple of impressive games and was quickly despatched by Wenger. Although he has suffered from injuries this year he still only scored twice in 11 appearances on loan at Real Betis and he has probably found his level. He is hoping that the Spanish minnows will try and make his loan permanent but it is extremelu unlikely that he will ever return to the Emirates.-..
Lucas Perez is a difficult one to assess as many Arsenal fans thought he deserved more chances under Wenger but he is still our player after a year at Deportivo who ended up relegated from La Liga. There are rumours that Lazio may want him, but at 30 and on Arsenal-style wages we may have to bring him back anyway. Nine goals in 37 appearances last season is hardly inspiring…
Carl Jenkinson joined Birmingham along with Cohen Bramall but due to injuries Carl only played nine times. Wenger wanted to sell him last year but his wage demands scuppered any move. He may find a club in the lower Leagues this summer as his contract is finally done. We won’t see him again…
Bramall didn’t have much luck either and only played eight times. He is still only 22 and may yet improve but somehow I think this is another failed cheapo signing….