Arsenal: Jon Toral Return A Sign Worth Celebrating, Not Ignoring

Arsenal has a midfield conundrum, but they actually have a built-in solution staring at them as Jon Toral is returning. So why this talk of a new loan?

I just got done digging through all the options that Arsenal has to cope with the missing Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny. With just Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey holding down the remaining two spots, a third solution could be absolutely crucial. Especially with Chelsea finally slipping and the need for consistency glaring through more than ever.

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But there is an option, and it has hit me like a glorious ton of bricks. Jon Toral’s loan was only a half a season. Which was a shock to me, I have to admit. I was under the impression that this somewhat disastrous and wholly foolish-seeming Granada loan was a year long. Now that I know it isn’t, I am beyond excited.

There is a problem, though. And that problem has reared its ugly head in the form of another loan. It’s like that silliness all over again, where Toral arrived back after Birmingham City and was sent out on loan immediately before being given a fighting chance at the first team. No preseason, no nothing.

Isn’t it a bit too perfect that Toral is set to return from loan right as we are out of options in the midfield. There is a such thing as luck and Toral is currently stumbling into a great big vat of luck. A chance, when it has so eluded him, almost painfully so.

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There was time last year when Arsenal were a bit strapped on the wings, both because of a lack of options and because of Wenger’s stubbornness. That situation bred Alex Iwobi, who is now a functioning member of the first team and he saves Wenger from making a transfer.

Why can’t Jon Toral take this opportunity like Alex Iwobi did? Why can’t he become a functioning member of the first team when the situation permits it? It would prove that he is a viable first team member and spare Wenger of the trouble of having to find a replacement for the suddenly-brittle Santi Cazorla.

Toral showed he can conquer the English game. He showed it at Birmingham City and it was really damn convincing.

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The next step was the Premier League, not the cellar of La Liga. It’s time to fix upon that mistake, not continue his demotion in another league.