Jon Toral Must Be Given Arsenal First Team Role

Jon Toral is one of the few Arsenal loanees that is making an impact. He is making so much of an impact that Arsenal are at risk of losing him.

Just when you thought all of Arsenal’s loans were going terribly, one man rises from the ashes and starts attracting the attention of Premier League rivals. Such is the case with Jon Toral.

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The 20 year old Spaniard is currently on loan at Championship side Birmingham City. Since reacquiring a first team role, he has played three matches, for 260 minutes and scored two goals. It is no wonder why Premier League clubs are starting to gather for the potential sale of Toral.

Arsenal find themselves in dire need of midfield help. Come the summer, Mikel Arteta, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky all look to be moving on. Santi Cazorla too, is nearing the end of his prime. If he has not faced the end of it already. That will leave so many gaps all at once in Arsenal’s midfield depth. With Toral on loan until the end of the season, when those three go their own way, the solution seems rather obvious. Either give Jon Toral a spot on the first team or suffer his sale.

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Sitting through the sale of another Arsenal product would be an unwanted feeling. Arsenal is supposed to be past that phase. Plus, internal solutions are supposed to be the name of Arsenal’s game. So let’s toss out the idea of him being sold for now. What can Arsenal do with him?

Despite being of pretty stout size, Toral has always been used in an attacking role wherever he goes. That is the only position he has played thus far at Birmingham City. But given his size and athleticism, he may have a first-class ticket to the spot that Santi Cazorla holds now. Despite the surprising prominence that Santi Cazorla is showing at the role, his size and skill set still leave him vulnerable at times.

By gearing Jon Toral for that deep-lying, hinge position, Arsenal will be welcoming in more of a defensive threat. Not only that, but Toral has better goal-scoring abilities than Santi Cazorla. Already. That will be a welcome addition.

The problem comes with passing. Toral is not the clinical passer that Cazorla is. He maintains just a 74% pass completion. However, for a 20 year old, there is still plenty of time to develop that. Francis Coquelin’s pass completion rose massively in just a year. There is no reason to believe that Toral cannot do the same.

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Arsenal must hold on to Jon Toral. They have a major decision to make in the upcoming months as to who will fill in for what in the summer time. Arsenal could use a youth infusion. Jon Toral appears to be one of the few youngsters that is ready to provide that. However, with Mesut Ozil firmly implanted and dominating literally everyone, there is no chance at taking the No. 10 role. Not only that, but his lack of pace and experience makes a wing role illogical as well.

It looks like either a change of formation or a deep-lying role is in store for Jon Toral should Arsenal do the wise thing and hold onto him.