Arsenal Loan Watch GFXGOAL

Arsenal loanee power rankings: Arthur Okonkwo is loving life under Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds - but Charlie Patino is stagnating badly at Swansea

The loan market has proved to be a useful tool for Arsenal over the years, and that trend has continued since Mikel Arteta was appointed head coach, with the most notable, recent success story being that of William Saliba.

With no regular place in Arteta's rotation available, the defender enjoyed successive loan spells at Nice and Marseille. During his time back in France, he rapidly developed into one of Ligue 1's best centre-backs and he has only got better since returning to north London at the beginning of last season.

Folarin Balogun looked set to follow a similar path to first-team stardom after starring for Reims last season, but the United States striker instead opted to depart permanently, raising a cool £26m ($31.6m) for the Gunners' transfer coffers this summer when he joined Monaco.

Not everyone can enjoy this meteoric rise via the loan market, of course, but Arsenal will be hoping that the current crop of players spending 2023-24 away from their parent club can return with a significantly bolstered reputation.

The Gunners loan army is spread across the continent, so you might have been struggling to keep track of how everyone is getting on. Fortunately, GOAL has been analysing how each player has done so far...

Previous update: December 12, 2023.

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