Sporting Lisbon manager Luis Boa Morte is thrilled that Arsenal man Joel Campbell will be helping his club, but will he ever be allowed to help Arsenal?
Something that Sporting Lisbon manager Luis Boa Morte said in his praise of Joel Campbell really struck a chord with me. He said that the Arsenal man has “all the qualities to play for them and as long as he does well, I’m sure we’ll be the beneficiaries here because he’ll come back an even better player,” (via the Daily Star).
That’s all well and good, but my question is whether or not Arsenal will ever truly allow a Joel Campbell loan to benefit them. He’s 24 now and according the Costa Rican himself, he was not happy with his playing time last year and he made that perfectly clear. He felt he deserted more.
You won’t find any argument out of me in that regard. He was better than both Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain last year by a long shot. His work ethic going forward and tracking back was nothing short of magnificent and, as Luis Boa Morte pointed out, he is a major problem for defenses.
Campbell is simply fearless when he attacks and his unpredictability makes him a weapon of completely unknown power, which is scary for defenses.
But will the Gunners ever truly benefit from his continued growth or will Wenger continue to put him off like he’s a damn leper? We have seen Campbell do well on loans before only to return to the Emirates, not be given a shot and be sent away.
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He is off to a fantastic start in Portugal, where he is clearly happy and passionate about his play. Who’s to say that he won’t appreciate what Sporting Lisbon give him and value his time enough to leave the mind games in North London behind?
By now he has to realize that so long as Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are in the squad, he isn’t going to be given his fair shot to make a difference. It’s one of those inexplicable things with Wenger, where a player seems to embody everything he wants but is still cast out for no apparent reason. With Chris Willock and Jeff Reine-Adelaide coming up the chute as well, there isn’t much hope in the future for a 24 year old.
Whatever happens with Campbell, the man is a tremendous athlete and deserves to be starting somewhere. He has shown tremendous loyalty and dedication to Arsenal and if that never gets returned, it’s at no fault of his.
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