A Look At The Curious Case Of Joel Campbell

The future of Joel Campbell has remained unclear since he rejoined Arsenal after a series of loan spells away from the club. Despite strong interest from several clubs last summer, he still remained in North London. Galatasaray and Benfica were clubs that were close to signing him at the time.

A lack of playing time has made his first full year at the club to be a frustrating one. Now that the transfer window is in full swing, speculation has again begun about his future. There have been links to Real Sociedad, Benfica and a host of Premier League clubs.

Further reports have emerged that Villarreal wants the Costa Rican on loan as part of any deal that would take centre half, Gabriel Paulista to Arsenal.

Now this question would it be a right move for Arsenal to allow Joel Campbell to leave this month?

The answer to that is certainly in the negative. Having sent both Yaya Sanogo and Lukas Podolski on loan, it has reduced the club’s attacking options, and because it is Arsenal you cannot ruled out any further injury. So a move for Joel Campbell in January after the aforementioned duo has left would be a bad decision on the part of the club. You could claim that he is not needed, as he has not featured much this season. However, the club is at the stage of the season where the squad available could be important for the run in. Joel Campbell is part of the squad, and he could be an important player in Cup competitions, especially the FA Cup, he was in the starting eleven against Hull City in the last round, and he should be pushing for a start against Brighton this weekend.

The present situation is such that the club club runs the risk of leaving itself to an injury in attack to become vulnerable. Danny Welbeck has been missing now for a couple of weeks, and Alexis Sanchez will need some rest at some point, because the effects of his physical assertions so far would take its toll later on. And since Campbell and Sanchez are options in the left side of midfield, the former leaving could create a huge problem for Arsenal later on.

It is better for the club to follow the path of caution, by simply impressing on the Costa Rican that he would be staying put this month. A move should be in the summer, not because he is going to start making the team’s lineup, but he could become an important squad player latter this season

Arsenal have seen this season that things can easily go wrong, a couple of months ago, there was much talk about the depth the club had in central midfield, but after injuries to Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey [before he returned], the depth in that area of the squad suddenly disappeared that Francis Coquelin had to be recalled from loan, which highlights how fast things can go wrong in football.

The loans away from the club would become one too many if Joel Campbell leaves, and it would weaken the squad, he should be kept, and used in the FA Cup to rotate other players.