Once a veteran player leaves the club on loan, it’s almost natural to cancel any chance he’ll have a long run with you.
That appeared to be the case with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Arsenal last season when he was on loan at Rome. It is unclear whether he would remain in Italy permanently, but it is quite clear that he had no more opportunities at Arsenal.
It probably seemed like the right resolution at the time and maybe it’s still the right call for Mikel Arteta to wait, but one wonders if it would make a difference for Arsenal’s team right now.
Arteta has many features in the wider areas, however, they continue to let it go, while it is also mandatory to create from the middle of the box at this time.
The Armenian star has controlled five goals and four assists in just 8 Serie A games so far this year, so he seems to be on track for his season.
Rome’s fan site, chiesaditotti, has further deepened its stats for the year so far this year, and obviously implies that it is bigger than ever.
He’ll be 32 years old in January, so he was never going to be a long-term choice anywhere to end this season, but one wonders if Arsenal have given him any other chance.
It is also insignificant that Willian is older and also contributes much less than Mkhitaryan has just been, so it is not a wonderful look for Arsenal.