Arsenal: 3 players who need productive loan moves

2. Miguel Azeez

While the entire squad has underperformed this season, the lack of quality and depth in midfield has been particularly striking. Thomas Partey has looked a shadow of his former self since arriving from Atletico Madrid and while he will certainly improve next season, the other alternatives do not inspire much confidence. Mohamed Elneny will never be more than a squad player and the less said about Dani Ceballos, the better.

Miguel Azeez will certainly be backing himself to break into the Arsenal midfield sooner rather than later, especially since there is a clear pathway for him given both his talent as well as the other options. He made a brief substitute appearance early in the Europa League but besides that, minutes have been few and far between.

The fact that there will likely be no European games to blood him, along with the other youngsters, points to a loan move being the next step in his development, even if speculation suggests a chance with the first team.

While most Arsenal fans would love to see him get some game time in the Premier League, he has yet to showcase his talent consistently, or indeed at all, at a higher level. Additionally, Xhaka’s potential departure and the interest in potential big money signings means that next season might prove to be a difficult one for him to take up the midfield mantle. It would be a huge ask for Arsenal to pin such levels of responsibility on Azeez, when the midfield is so sorely lacking in experienced quality.

Seeing the recent successes of Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles on loan, however, must be encouraging for him as he waits for his time in the spotlight.