Arsenal failed terribly with Eddie Nketiah & Reiss Nelson loans

January was good fun in north London. Arsenal lost only once all month, got Mesut Ozil, Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi off the wage bill and signed Martin Odegaard and Mat Ryan.

Not much went wrong, then?

Well, the left-back situation was unseen too. Cedric Soares was left to cover Kieran Tierney for seven matches and while he performed admirably in his stead, the unmissable limitations of having a right-footed player in that position meant there were some issues that couldn’t be rectified.

On the whole though, Odegaard alone made it a successful month; one with joy on and off the pitch. Partly, anyway, because the situations with Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah cast a dark cloud. Wasted opportunities that will only cost Arsenal.

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1375515896731500544

Arsenal failed miserably with Eddie Nketiah & Reiss Nelson loans in January

Importantly, as well, it affects the players. Neither will gain anything from the second half of the season, even if Nketiah is leading his side out in the Under-21 European Championship group stages.

It’s mad to think Nketiah wasn’t granted a loan move away with a plethora of bottom half Premier League clubs desperately in need of a striker in January. Was the decision made with one eye on a potential injury to Alexandre Lacazette? Most probably, however; with an abundance of forwards at Mikel Arteta’s disposal there could easily have been some maneuvering in such an instance. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s impeccable injury record adds to the bemusement.

His value is only dropping from here. Up north we see Jesse Lingard being loaned to West Ham instead of sold, and his asking price – if indeed Manchester United want to sell – will have risen exponentially from the pittance it was before.

The same applies to Nelson, who didn’t secure a move away as it was felt the right club didn’t come in with a loan offer. Almost any club would be better than the Under-23 side.

There is still time for Nelson at 21 years old to keep progressing, but he should have had one or two years of regular football at a high level under his belt by now, whether that’s partly on loan in the Premier League or in the Championship.

At a point where Arsenal need money (as ever) damaging the value of two assets who will garner attention elsewhere was a large failure on the club’s part.