Arsenal ran out 2-0 against Brighton yesterday to return to the top of the Premier League, but it might be the final game Reuell Walters needed to watch from the bench to decide he needs a loan move in January.
Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz saw the Gunners get over the line against a Brighton team that barely got out of their own half.
Although Arsenal were the superior team, the scoreline didn’t reflect that for much of the game.
Havertz only made sure of the result in the final minutes before being replaced by Emile Smith Rowe.
Mikel Arteta called on Smith Rowe alongside Eddie Nketiah, Jakub Kiwior, Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson from the bench.
Nketiah has been linked with a move away in January and Kiwior is in a similar position.
Arteta named youngsters Myles Lewis-Skelly and Reuell Walters on the bench yesterday and both would have hoped to make their Premier League debuts.
Lewis-Skelly and Walters joined Ethan Nwaneri and Lino Sousa on the touchline against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League but all three players were left frustrated on that occasion as well.
The teenager has now been named on the bench by Arteta 15 times without making his debut.
Arsenal youngster Walters should ask for a loan move in January
Mikel Arteta initially wasn’t afraid to trust Arsenal’s young players when he first took the job but has progressively handed academy prospects fewer minutes.
Bukayo Saka is going to be a mainstay for club and country for some time, while Nketiah, Smith Rowe and Nelson are all battling to establish themselves in the squad.
There appears to be a lull in top-quality players coming through at Hale End judging by the lack of regular minutes any player is currently earning.
However, it feels like a matter of time until Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly are afforded an opportunity.
Reuell Walters might suffer from playing in the wrong position for a young player to be thrown into regular senior football.
Arteta has built Arsenal’s success this season on a formidable back line with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes performing exceptionally.
Walters is capable of playing at centre-back or right-back and might have left on loan earlier than January had Jurrien Timber not picked up a season-ending injury.
The 19-year-old is very comfortable playing at Under-21 level for Arsenal and captained their Youth League team in a disappointing campaign.
Patino and Norton-Cuffy show what Walters is missing
There are already plenty of Arsenal players out on loan in the Football League right now that Walters could join in January.
In the Championship, Charlie Patino has been regularly turning out for Swansea City, while Brooke Norton-Cuffy was named in the Team of the Week after scoring for Millwall this weekend.
The benefit of a player heading out on loan in January is managers tend to know exactly what they need in the transfer market by then.
Walters’s versatility means any team looking for a defender who can play at centre-back or right-back would suit the England youth international.
While he may be learning an awful lot from training with some of the best players in the Premier League, there’s no substitution for regular senior minutes.
It would make a lot of sense for Walters to ask the club to let him play six months of football elsewhere for the second half of the season.
However, if Cedric Soares was to be allowed to leave, he may finally get his opportunity at Arsenal but would ultimately still be a reserve for the rest of the campaign.
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