Arsenal plan on sending highly-rated defender Omar Rekik on a loan deal, in a move similar to that of William Saliba.
According to TEAMtalk, Arsenal plan to send Omar Rekik on loan after the defender impressed with their Under-23 side last season. The club are planning the 20-year-old’s career similar to William Saliba, who will return in the new season.
Rekik arrived from Hertha Berlin in January 2021 and has been playing with the Under-23s. The Gunners rate the young centre-back very highly and have tipped him for a bright future in the game. Last season he made 14 appearances for the team and showed a lot of promising signs.
Some fans had been urging the club to hand him a chance at the first-team level in some capacity. However, Mikel Arteta could not do so as Arsenal have primarily played in the Premier League, and there were no competitions for squad experiments.
However, the Gunners deemed that the 20-year-old needed to gain valuable experience playing regularly with the U-nder23s, and the defender has not disappointed. Rekik’s impressive displays have now compelled Arsenal into thinking about his future as he is unlikely to break into the senior setup as of yet, with Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Rob Holding and the returning Saliba ahead of him.
Arsenal are now thinking about sending Rekik on loan next season, as they want to take his development into the next stage. They envisage a plan similar to Saliba, whose loan spells in the last two seasons immensely helped the Frenchman’s development.
Saliba recently confirmed his intention to play for the Gunners next season, Arsenal and their fans will be pleased with the news. After a brilliant season with Marseille in 2021/22, there had been doubts about his immediate future. Mikel Arteta had already confirmed Saliba would come back to the team for next season.
Now, Arsenal are planning to enrich Rekik’s talents similarly, as a loan move to one of the top-tier clubs could be on the cards. There is interest from German and Dutch sides in the 20-year-old defender, who could use some valuable game-time at a higher level than the Premier League 2. However, where Rekik plays next season remains a question.
