Would Arsenal selling Joe Willock be a mistake?

Joe Willock

Would Arsenal selling Joe Willock be a mistake?

By Jack Lacey-Hatton

This summer marks a crossroads in the career of Joe Willock.

The 21-year-old has shown his quality in the Premier League, after an incredibly successful loan spell at Newcastle during the 2020-21 season.

An attacking midfielder, Willock has energy, pace, is technically capable and knows where the goal is. At the very least, he should be considered an interesting option for Arsenal going forward.

But as Willock continues to be linked with other clubs, including Newcastle, Mikel Arteta and the management team could be tempted to cash in, which would help with the wider squad rebuilding that needs to take place.

So – would selling Willock be a mistake for Arsenal? Let’s examine the evidence.


No

The main argument for selling Willock hangs on his transfer value.

His remarkable form at Newcastle towards the end of last season will have inflated his price in the transfer market.

At a time when shifting players for good money is extremely hard, mainly due to the financial implications for football of the pandemic, the chance to sell him for a good price may be too good to turn down.

Prior to last season’s loan spell in the north-east, it would have been highly unlikely to get a price north of £20million for the England Under-21 international.

Now paper talk suggests Arsenal won’t even go to the negotiating table for less than £28million.
The money raised from this sale could be used to improve other areas of the squad, or strengthen the attacking midfield options.

The club continue to be linked with a move for Leicester star James Maddison. Willock may be an Arsenal youth product, but few fans would argue for favouring him over a move for Maddison.

His current value also causes another headache for Arteta. If Willock is kept on, he will need to play regular football to maintain his current market value.

If he starts the season on the bench, buying clubs won’t be prepared to fork out such a high fee – they can easily argue his value will have dropped.

At a time when Emile Smith Rowe continues to impress, it may be difficult to guarantee Willock regular football.
In that case they should look at selling him while his market value is red-hot.


Yes

You can almost see this as a classic Arsenal transfer blunder, before it has even happened.

Regardless of who could be brought in, if Willock was sold, or whether he will be a regular starter – one key issue remains.

Arsenal finished eighth last season, winning fewer than half their games played. This has to be improved on this season.

Put simply, this remains a weak squad in comparison with years gone-by. The club are not in a position to be selling talented footballers.

They don’t have the depth required to compensate for selling good players.
Willock was in red-hot form at the end of last season.

If the plan wasn’t at least to give him a chance in the first-team, what exactly was the point in loaning him out to another top-flight club?

The biggest mistake Arsenal could make at this point, is not even finding out if he was ever good enough for the team.

He needs a chance to prove himself in the red shirt, and why should it not be this season?

Verdict

With Willock currently tied down to a long-term contract, and having shown he is capable of mixing it at the highest level, it would be a mistake for Arsenal to sell the talented youngster this summer.

This is a time when the club’s football hierarchy need to identify who can help the team grow over the next few seasons.

Willock is only 21, he has his best years in front of him and hopefully will only get better.

His incredible goalscoring run at the end of last season, scoring in seven straight Premier League games, means 
he is a player who will come into the new campaign full of confidence and desperate to show it wasn’t a fluke.

It maybe already too late, with rumours doing the rounds at the end of the week indicating Arsenal have agreed deal with Newcastle for a permanent transfer.

If the move goes through, however, it could be one of the worst transfer decisions the club have made in recent years, spurning the chance for an academy graduate to become an Arsenal hero.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Popular posts from this blog

What have we learned from Arsenal's pre-season so far?

Image
  Arsenal – what have we learned from pre-season? By Jack Lacey-Hatton It only feels five minutes since Euro 2020, but incredibly we are just one week away from the new Premier League season starting. Arsenal will travel to newly promoted Brentford for a London derby in front of a noisy crowd next Friday night, not the easiest of starts to the new campaign. But what sort of shape are Mikel Arteta’s side in, going into what could be a defining season for the manager? We took a close look at what we have learnt from the pre-season period and what kind of shape the squad are in.   The new signings are ready to go It has been a mixed transfer window so far. Some fans would have expected more both leaving and arriving at the Emirates stadium over the summer. But positives can be taken - Ben White has arrived from Brighton for £50million, and highly-rated full back Nuno Tavares has come in from Benfica. Albert Sambi Lokonga completes the 2021 summer singings so far. Cruc...
Read more

Transfer Profile: Ruben Neves

Image
Transfer Profile: Ruben Neves By Jonny Bray It is hard to believe that Ruben Neves is still only 25-years-old.   It feels as if the Portuguese international has been tipped for big things for nearly a decade now.  With the midfielder out of contract in 2023, it appears his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers could be coming to an end.  Understandably, with a player like Neves on offer for a reduced price, clubs around Europe are queueing up to secure the international's signature.  So, after all this time, should Arsenal move for Ruben Neves now, or is it time for the Gunners to turn their attention to a new target?  What would he bring?  Arsenal do not have enough defensive midfielders.  Martin Ødegaard, Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka give Mikel Arteta plenty of midfield options going forward, but the Gunners have been found lacking when out of possession this season. Thomas Partey has been in and out of the side due to injuries, a fact that has not hel...
Read more

Where will Arsenal finish this season?

Image
Where will Arsenal finish this season? By Alec McQuarrie Arsenal have made steady improvement over the last few seasons under Mikel Arteta. After finishing 8th in his debut season, the Spaniard oversaw a five-point improvement in his first full campaign.  And last year an eight-point leap followed, which was unfortunately not enough to pip Tottenham to fourth place.  Cruelly, the 69 points accumulated would have been enough to seal Champions League qualification in the previous two seasons.  Looking at the trajectory over the Arteta era, it would be fair to assume a continued improvement this coming season.  After all, with five signings already secured this summer and Alexandre Lacazette the sole first-team player to depart, surely fourth place should be a bare minimum expectation.  Oleksandr Zinchenko offers much-needed cover at left-back and competition for central midfield.  Gabriel Jesus is a proven goalscorer and brings a tireless work-ethic to fulfil...
Read more