Arsenal Loanee Delivers Man of the Match Performance

All the talk centres around getting the best out of what Arsenal have.

Loads of glamorous players hog the Arsenal squad but as of yet making them all click in an attacking sense has been Mikel Arteta‘s only major downside.

But while we toil away with the inadequacies of the forward line and present contrasting variations of how the front three should look, there are players spending time away from north London who are having no such issues.

Of the youngsters out on loan across the continent, Ben Sheaf is beginning to find his feet at Coventry and produced his best performance with the Sky Blues in a shock 3-2 home win over Reading on Friday.

The holding midfielder had an excellent spell with Doncaster in League One during the 2019/20 campaign, featuring 38 times across all competitions and helping the Yorkshire outfit finish ninth in the table.

Such were his displays that interested parties began to emerge from the second tier, with newly-promoted Coventry securing him on a season-long loan deal for the current campaign. Said deal does include a £750k buy-option at the end of the season, a decent enough fee considering he will have just 12 months left on his Arsenal contract upon completion of his temporary move.

It would require a remarkable individual season – and a contractual loophole – for Sheaf to break into the senior fold at Arsenal, but he did himself a huge favour with a man of the match outing against the Championship leaders.

Sheaf didn’t enjoy the best of start, giving the ball away needlessly for the Royals’ opening goal, but that error was used an inspiration, then re-shifting his focus and adding physicality to his tackling.

Not someone to regularly feature in the headlines given the nature of his job role, Sheaf operated as a silent assassin, if you like, winning possession eight times against the previously unbeaten side. Performing the ‘crab’ role of patrolling the line in front of his back four, there was a confidence to his play that grew throughout the match.

He was damned good.

Given Coventry have the option to buy, it seems inevitable they’ll accept, which is a shame since performances such as that one will garner interest from across the country. And for more than £750k, you’d imagine. Tying him down on a new deal prior to the loan might’ve been a missed opportunity.