Arsene Wenger made a conscious decision to keep Joel Campbell in the summer, despite the knowledge that he would struggle to fit him in alongside his existing attacking options. There was a lot of speculation as to how The Professor would set his team up and most pundits suggested that Campbell’s career would be best served with a loan move.
And yet Wenger kept talking the young forward up, suggesting that he’d have a role to play this year. He’s thus far made 3 appearances this season. This must be disappointing given his 43 appearances for Olympiakos last year (during which he managed to nab 11 goals).
You’d think that the young Costa Rican would feel a little hard done by by this treatment, but he’s thus far kept quiet about the whole situation (unlike Lukas Podolski and Tomas Rosicky).
With no real route into the first team, it’ll be interesting to see how Arsene Wenger reacts in the January transfer window. Will he finally decide to let him go, even if it’s just on a temporary basis?
According to The Metro, Liverpool are ‘ready to begin shock talks’ with The Gunners in the hope of securing a loan deal for Joel Campbell. I can’t say I saw that one coming.
That being said, The Reds do need another forward or two. If Campbell can recapture the form his showed at the World Cup, or even the form he showed late on last season for Olympiakos, he can certainly do a job for Liverpool over half a season. It’s an odd little gamble to take, but there’s some chance that it will pay off.
The Metro goes as far as to claim that Brendan Rodgers is a huge admirer of the Costa Rican. Perhaps there’s more to this story than at first meets the eye. Arsenal won’t want to strengthen a rival for one of the top four slots, but they can’t let Campbell stagnate either.
It’ll be interesting to watch this one play out.
What’s your take? Could Joel Campbell be on his way to Liverpool this January?
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