Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has given an insight as to how he would change the loan market in football.
Football clubs cannot solely rely on recruiting players from elsewhere, they also have to focus on nurturing players at the grassroots level. To help the development of youngsters, clubs set up state of the art facilities to help their academy players to take their game to the next level.
However, playing in the youth leagues does not give the players the right amount of exposure they need as senior-level football can provide. Due to this, managers gauge the progress of their young players and loan them out when they feel they are showing progress in training as well as junior level matches.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also follows the system of loaning out youngsters to get a polished product at the end of the player’s loan. Speaking exclusively to the Gunners’ official website, the Frenchman gave an insight about the loan market.
“First of all it’s a step in the players’ development, and normally it’s the final step before their integration into the first team. The development of players is made up of three steps: scouting, coaching and integrating them into the first team.
“The final stage of that last step is to give them competitiveness at the top level so that they can show that they have the mental maturity to cope with pressure, the demands of a first team who have to win games.”
Wenger considers the loan market as a finishing school and believes that it is the last step a player needs to take to step into the first-team plans at any top flight club. The Frenchman loaned out Ainsley Maitland-Niles to Ipswich Town last term and saw him return as a transformed player and one who is now challenging for a spot in the first team.
Arsenal’s midfield mainstay Francis Coquelin was also sent out on loan to Charlton a couple of seasons ago, while defenders Hector Bellerin and Kieran Gibbs also saw their performances hit an upward trajectory from a temporary spell away from the Emirates.
When asked about the changes he would like to make in the loan market, Wenger said, “Maybe you could create a possibility for some clubs to own part of a League One club as a feeder club. After that, a limitation on the number of players on your books could work.
“The way a youth team is organised now is that all the best young players go to the richest clubs, which is where they have fewer chances to develop, so you have to make sure the system shares out the best young players equally.”
As per Arsenal.com, the Gunners have a total of 13 players out on loan this season including the likes of Wojciech Szczesny, Calum Chambers and Jack Wilshere. Summer signing Takuma Asano has also been loaned out as he was unable to acquire a work permit for the 2016-17 campaign.
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