Arsenal Staring Down Jon Toral Conundrum

Arsenal have a potential star in Jon Toral, but the problem is that he may not find space at the moment. This summer poses a conundrum for the two sides.

No loanee has made as big of an impact as Jon Toral has at Birmingham City. The Barcelona product won player of the year and goal of the year with the Blues and has grown quite fond of his surroundings. He was one of the few Arsenal men who not only found consistent time while on loan, but thrived as well.

Which is good and bad. It is good because Arsenal have an exciting young man that is eager to make an impact. And this Arsenal team is in dire need of an impact. We can all agree on that.

It’s just not that easy though. There are so many contributing factors making this a sticky situation. Toral made it clear that he was going to come back to Arsenal and discuss his future before making any decisions, as he did not rule out a return to Birmingham. That can lead to so many things.

With the departure of Flamini, Arteta and Rosicky, Toral has openings to fill, but he doesn’t have too much of a chance of bursting into the starting XI like Alex Iwobi did. The midfield is much more packed with the likes of some of Wenger’s favorites – Ozil, Ramsey, Wilshere, Elneny, Cazorla, Coquelin. The latter five are duking it out for two spots while Ozil has a lock on the No. 10 role, the role that Toral prefers.

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This is what puts Toral in a tight spot. This year is going to be incredibly congested. But given another year of under-performing, it would open up come the following summer. The problem is if he would want to wait and how long it would take for his affection and fond farewell with Birmingham to resonate within him and remind him that he could be playing happily with the Blues instead of biding his time at Arsenal.

I think of it much like Chuba Akpom’s situation this year. Akpom is at the age where he needs to be notching that first team experience and Wenger wanted to keep him, but knowing the situation he was in, Akpom opted for a loan that didn’t necessarily work out. Had it worked out, no doubt he would be in a similar position as Toral. In time, there will be spots for these guys, but right now, there really isn’t.

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However, with Toral, you can’t run the risk of letting him go. No way. He has so much potential and has turned that into what is shaping up to be a quality product. Arsenal have to give him a chance with the first team this coming season or chalk it up as another black eye on Wenger’s record (which would mean he is out of eyes to blacken, with Toral and Campbell being both).

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