Were Arsenal wrong to sell Isaac Hayden?

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The 21-year-old swapped Arsenal for Newcastle United this summer.

Eleven games into the Championship season and Newcastle United’s chances of bouncing straight back into the Premier League look very decent.

Newcastle sit third in the standings, three points behind top-of-the-table Huddersfield Town after winning seven of their matches in England’s second tier thus far.

No one player is responsible for what has been very much a team effort, but one player who has certainly done his bit for the cause is former Arsenal man Isaac Hayden.

Hayden, sold by Arsenal for £2.5 million in the summer according to The Northern Echo, has been a sentry-like figure in front of Newcastle’s back four.

He has had a major impact on the team and Magpies fans – some of whom have used the loveheart and diamond emoji to express their appreciation for the 21-year-old on Twitter – but was Arsene Wenger too quick to sell him?

Be it in defence or defensive midfield, Hayden would not have played much for Arsenal this season, but at 21, and his combative displays in the Championship, it seems premature on Wenger’s part to conclude that he would never be good enough – especially without even knowing his best position.

Both of Hayden’s senior appearances for Arsenal came at centre-back, which is where he was deployed during his loan spell with Hull last season for the most part.

But Rafael Benitez’s decision to play him a little further forward might well be a masterstroke which proves a big factor in their would-be promotion.

There is every chance that the Engand Under-20 international will come up against his former club in the Premier League next season, and is it unfathomable to believe he could produce the same all-action displays in the top flight?

Of course, impressing in the Championship does not mean the same will be true in the Premier League, and being good enough for Arsenal is a completely separate question.

But his early success in a defensive midfield role suggests the decision to sell him outright may have been hasty on Wenger’s part. Another loan might have been the smarter option.