Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi Loan Question Answers Itself

Arsenal are working the loan game hard, with numerous youngsters looking to hit the football circuit. Loaning out Alex Iwobi should not even be a question.

Alex Iwobi is stuck in a strange zone at Arsenal. He is too young and too inexperienced to make a first team impact but he is too old to sit in the prospect stage for too much longer. He needs to start making some headway into the Arsenal first-team spectrum. He has made a few brief cameos this year, but nothing to warrant him staying around if a loan deal presents itself.

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According to The Express, Arsenal appear likely to send the young Nigerian out to Championship side Reading, where he will ideally be able to notch some first team play time and avoid sitting on a bench.

This deal does not need much justification. Iwobi should have been loaned out in the summer like many of his comrades. Arsenal have a surplus of young, inconsistent wingers. Having another young and less proven winger sitting on the bench makes next to no sense. Between Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joel Campbell, Arsenal have plenty of head scratching moments.

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Plus, once Alexis Sanchez returns, those brief cameos that Iwobi is making will be eradicated. They will be given to either the Ox or Campbell, whoever falls out of favor the fastest. Alexis Sanchez is going to be starting every single game as always and it will be up to the ever-wavering Theo Walcott, Joel Campbell and the Ox to compete among themselves and determine who will suit up opposite the Chilean.

Iwobi is not even in the same conversation. He scored a nice goal in preseason but he has made very little headway since then. He is reaching a point where progress has to be perfectly clear. Serge Gnabry and Wellington Silva will be returning and it is inevitable that some of these wingers get lost in the masses.

To give Iwobi the chance of avoiding that void, a loan is the only option. He made a wise decision in switching his national team to Nigeria, as that will give him a much better shot and landing first team football. That was one step in the right direction. Securing a loan move would be the next step. He has not separated from the pack of Arsenal prospects and he is one of the oldest ones.

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This loan makes sense for all parties. That is all you need to know when it comes to loans.