Arsenal: Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah being ruined

According to James Benge of Football.London, Arsenal have rejected loan enquires from Championship clubs for Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah. The young pair are being ruined.

Arsenal are a club that has always prioritised the development of young players. It is a key characteristic of the organisation, something that they pride themselves on, even if their record isn’t quite as good as many may believe it is.

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Because of that, fans expect young talent to be given chances to play. Even with a new manager in charge, a 19-year-old, two 22-year-olds and 21-year-old have all played key parts in the Premier League campaign. No other top-six team can make the same claim. But that does not mean that more cannot be done, specifically with the prospective teenagers who are struggling to earn competitive game time.

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According to James Benge of Football.London, Arsenal have firmly rejected loan enquiries for two of their most promising young stars, Joe Willock, who scored twice in a 3-0 win over Blackpool last weekend, and Eddie Nketiah, a prolific striker at youth level — he has scored seven goals in eight games in Premier league II this season — who has struggled a little in the absence of Danny Welbeck this season. The pair, both 19, are at the stage of their careers were playing time is essential. And currently, they are not being given enough of it.

Nketiah has the easier path to starts thanks to injuries and a lack of depth in the attacking positions, but has still only played one minute of league football this season. He has played 180 minutes across two starts in the Europa League, but both came after Arsenal had secured qualification into the knockout stages, and did come off the bench in one EFL Cup match, as well as starting against Blackpool on Saturday, but the options are still limited.

Willock, even more so, has been starved of opportunity. He has also played 180 minutes in the Europa League, the very same games that Nketiah featured in, but was handed no minutes in the EFL Cup campaign and is yet to make the pitch in the Premier League also. Playing the odd game here and there is not sufficient for a player’s development. But that is precisely what Arsenal are providing Nketiah and Willock with.

The reported refusal to let either leave on loan, then, is disappointing and a little puzzling. Nketiah, you can see, is needed for depth purposes, but he is also raring for regular, first-team football. Is it not better to sacrifice the limited depth that he provides for six months in favour of providing him with senior football?

Willock is an even clearer case. He is unlikely to be needed in midfield with Emery having the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Mohamed Elneny waiting in the wings, as well as Henrikh Mkhitaryan to return from injury. Surely he can be allowed to leave for half a season to gain proper opportunities to play?

Time on the pitch is the oxygen of player development. Those that play improve, and in Willock and Nketiah, Arsenal have two extreme talents that are not playing. That seems like a terrible shame to me.