Arsenal: The importance of the right loan, not any loan

Arsenal have a myriad of youth players coming through. To aid their development, it is critical that they pick the right loans, not just any loan.

Chelsea’s much-discussed and largely criticised loan army is actually a very clever way of building a squad. While there are questions regarding the morality and legality of what they have done, acquiring such a mass of young players, loaning them out, and then either introducing them into the first-team squad or selling them on is a very smart way to run a football club.

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And Arsenal, although not to the same extent as their London rivals, have a similarly volumetric group of young players coming through. As they look to develop these players and bleed them into both their first team and also towards selling them to other clubs, how they loan them to other clubs will be absolutely critical.

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It is something that head of academy Per Mertesacker understands astutely. In a brilliant interview with Goal this week, Mertesacker discussed Emile Smith Rowe’s loan to RB Leipzig and how the decisions of where to loan players out to is made. This is what he had to say about the process in the future:

"“We are starting step-by-step to pick and choose the right clubs with the right players and we are building some relationships with clubs abroad <…> Still, we could loan them out here in England. So we are seeking out the opportunities for young players. It’s very individual so not every player will go to Germany. That’s not what I am saying. We need to pick the right clubs at the right time for these youngsters. It is something we are looking into deeper, as other clubs are doing this regularly and more often.”"

Mertesacker is absolutely spot on. In the same interview, he discusses the reasons that went into choosing RB Leipzig for Smith Rowe’s loan destination. He talks about how the high-pressing tactics of the team fit into what Unai Emery wants his young players to learn. He also highlights that Leipzig have a strong record with using youth in their first team. There was a very clear purpose in sending Smith Rowe to Leipzig.

And that is something that Arsenal have not usually mastered. Typically, they have wasted plenty of players’ crucial development years by sending them to loan destinations that they do not play frequently at. There is a long list of wonderfully talented youngsters that have been wasted as a result of a lack of playing time because of poorly chosen loan clubs.

But this season, there has been a slight change. Calum Chambers has flourished in a midfield role at Fulham. Reiss Nelson, while not a regular starter, has played well at Hoffenheim. And now Smith Rowe is in the RB Leipzig squad also.

It is important that the right loans are selected, not just any loans. Loaning out players is only constructive if the right destinations are chosen. Thankfully, Mertesacker understands that.