Arsenal: Floundering loan system needs crucial step forward

Arsenal’s loan system needs to change. Perhaps imitating Chelsea and finding an affiliate club is the way to go in order to give more academy prospects a viable chance of succeeding at the Emirates.

Every year, Arsenal send youngsters out on loan with the hope that they will play significant first team minutes and subsequently develop as a professional footballer. However, a lack of playing time has plagued many of these loanees this season.

Jeorge Bird, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of this club’s academy, offered this rationale as to why a lack of playing time has been a common theme for many loanees:

The Gunners have invested heavily into their academy in recent years, therefore it makes sense that they would do all that they could in order to give their players every chance to succeed in a first team shirt. With that in mind, perhaps an affiliate club(s) should be considered.

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By no means am I suggesting an affiliation akin to Chelsea F.C.–Vitesse Arnhem. I’m suggesting an affiliation(s) which benefits all parties; easier said than done in the fast and furious world of modern football. The player himself must be optimistic that he will be given every opportunity to play and develop at the loan club, who themselves must be confident that the player in question will help them obtain their objectives. The Gunners must also be convinced that their player will develop during his temporary departure.

Arsenal could stay local and engage in a professional relationship with another London club. Arsenal have long had a healthy working relationship with Barnet F.C. and have sent a couple of players on loan to Charlton Athletic F.C. in recent years.

The Colorado Rapids – where Stanley Kroenke is the majority shareholder – of Major League Soccer are another alternative and would offer an eclectic experience for academy products. Emirates sponsor a multitude of football clubs around the world, including Olympiacos F.C., Hamburg SV and S.L. Benfica. All would be intriguing affiliation partners.

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A large number of academy products have found “success” in professional football, however, if the Gunners want more players to find long-term success within their own first team, something has to change. Perhaps they should take a page out of Liverpool’s book.