Omari Hutchinson contract worry eased as Mikel Arteta admits Hale End mistakes ahead of loans

Arsenal was always going to be a place where Mikel Arteta would learn on the job. It might seem mad that a club the size of the Gunners could even allow for a young inexperienced coach to use his early time as a learning curve, but it is the reality.

Thankfully, what was an obvious risk is starting to bear fruit. Arsenal are in the driving seat for the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League and the work to overhaul both the squad and the recruitment strategy has completely changed the outlook of the team.

Arteta has made mistakes and that has led to a number of experiences he will learn from. William Saliba was dealt with poorly in the summer of 2020 but the club have since acted accordingly and the loan strategy for the Frenchman will either return a much-improved young player or a significant sale price should he move on.

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Whilst for Folarin Balogun, he was kept at the club despite clearly being above domestic youth footballing level. Thankfully, Arteta and the club were able to convince Balogun to stay, sign a new contract and then organise him a loan to Championship side Middlesbrough where he has since flourished and is impressing.

Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Crystal Palace on Monday, Arteta praised Balogun’s displays so far. However, the Spaniard admitted that he should have sorted a loan move earlier for the England under-21 striker.

“I think Flo is doing what he’s needing to do. Probably