Arsenal have a plethora of talented loan players on their books at the moment, and while many of them will make a case for being first-teamers next season, nobody’s case is as strong as Joe Willock’s.
Indeed, the midfielder continued his incredible run of form for Newcastle on Wednesday evening as he netted in his sixth consecutive game for the Magpies.
Willock was sent out on loan to prove that he can do it in the Premier League, and it’s fair to say that he’s made his talent abundantly clear to everyone over the past few months.
The midfielder has shown Arteta what he’s all about, and now it’s clear that the Spaniard has to bring him back into the fold.
The timing couldn’t be better either, Arteta has his problems in the midfield at the moment, Dani Ceballos is heading back to Real Madrid, Granit Xhaka has hinted he wants to return to Borussia Monchengladbach, while Martin Odegaard looks set to return to Real Madrid, leaving a number of routes open for Willock to get his shot.
If Arteta continues to ignore Willock he’ll risk sending out the wrong message to all of his young players, especially the ones who end up going out on loan. After all, what more could you ask for from a loanee than what Willock has produced in these last few months?
He’s made a huge impact on the fans at St James’ Park and the players on Tyneside also rate him very highly, with Callum Wilson recently describing him as ‘quick’ while praising his ability.
There’s every chance that Willock doesn’t keep this form up, but even if the 21-year-old doesn’t cement himself as a key player at Arsenal next term, he should at least be given a chance at the beginning of the season, solely off the back of his showings for Newcastle.
A case could be made for a number of Arsenal’s loanees, William Saliba is earning plaudits on seemingly a weekly basis, while like Ainsley Maitland-Niles has also looked good at West Brom, but if any loanee is going to be re-integrated into the squad next season, it has to be Willock.
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