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New Carl Jenkinson Loan a Good Thing For Arsenal?
Recent reports have emerged which claim Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson is set to once again go out on loan. Surprisingly, Arsenal have been blessed with a recent myriad of options at right back, however unexpected it may have been.
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With previous right back incumbent, Bacary Sagna, leaving the club last summer it was a position which garnered a fair amount of attention and intrigue. Somewhat surprisingly Arsenal dealt with this gap relatively quickly and certainly adequately in the purchase of French right back Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle United.
While maybe not the most exciting signing in Arsenal history, it seemed we knew what we were getting in a strong veteran defender, and it was a good bit of business to to quickly fill a gap in our first team.
Not too long after the signing of Debuchy another defender was brought into the squad from Southampton in the form of Callum Chambers. While on paper Chambers will be listed as a center back, the youngster has often been deployed on the right and Arsene Wenger has even said he may envision him as a midfielder further in his career.
At this point the situation was pretty grim for Jenkinson. At least 3rd down the pecking order all parties involved decided a loan move was the best option. Carl ended up moving out on loan to West Ham United and I don’t think I’m being forward in saying many of us thought we might well have seen him play his last match in an Arsenal shirt.
Several months into the season, things had changed. Serious injury after serious injury meant Debuchy was not an Arsenal player this year for all intents and purposes. Combine that with Chambers fading form and the young Spaniard, Hector Bellerin, now seems to have the starting right back position in a stranglehold.
All of this in the rear view mirror and now it seems Jenkinson might again be out on loan. The Daily Mail reports that West Ham are very interested in renewing the loan after a positive year from Jenko.
What does all of this mean for Arsenal though? If you ask me, it could end up being a stroke of genius to show a little bit more patience with Jenko and hold on selling him. Here’s why.
First, Jenkinson had a good year at West Ham. He may have faded a bit towards the end of the season, but he showed some real improvement and became an integral part to a solid premier league side.
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Second, Debuchy has managed to leave the door open. In a twist nobody could have seen coming Debuchy having suffered numerous injuries in his first year has seemingly lost his spot to youngster Bellerin. Though Debuchy does have 3 years left on his contract he will be 30 when the next campaign begins. After Jenko spends another season on loan the Frenchman will be 31 and we all know this tends to not bode well for anyone at Arsenal.
Third, Carl seems to be a good guy. He’s been an Arsenal supporter his whole life and stories like that don’t come around too often, and heaven forbid they stab you in the back (I’m from Cleveland give me a break). I am personally for keeping some personality and character around the dressing room and at the very least Jenkinson can bring that to Arsenal. Just check out how much it meant to him when he scored his first Arsenal goal versus Norwhich in 2014.
Lastly, I think we would all do well to remember how quickly a players career can turn around. However dire you think the situation may be for Jenko certainly it was worse for Francis Coquelin last year. If he has taught us anything it’s that never say never. If it can happen for the Coq it can definitely happen for Jenko.
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve got a soft spot for players who seem to have a passion for their club and Carl seems to be one of those. I don’t necessarily see him ever being our number 1 choice at any point, but he certainly seems like a a good player to have around for a number of reasons. With Debuchy not getting any younger and Chambers’ future not at right back, I think a loan rather than a sale would be a very prudent decision for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.
P.S. this stuff never gets old.
Next: Does Jack Wilshere need to Mature?