Arsenal Loan Watch – Charlie Patino & Arthur Okonkwo
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Having recently looked at how Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Nathan Butler-Oyedeji are getting on at Millwall and Cheltenham Town respectively, we’re now going to take a look at how Charlie Patino (Swansea City) and Arthur Okonkwo (Wrexham) are getting on.
Charlie Patino (thank you to Planet Swans for feedback):
In terms of Patino, he has been our most successful loan player from our summer window.
One of four Premier League loans we bought in – Carl Rushworth (Brighton), Harrison Ashby (Newcastle) and Bashir Humphreys (Chelsea) but it has been Charlie who has impressed the most in these early days.
A goal and some assists have helped that settling-in period and he pretty much is likely to remain a familiar fixture in our midfield.
The worry I guess with any loan spell is that there could be a recall in January but we have to hope that it does not happen and he continues his development in SA1.
Definitely a player though with a bright future ahead of him – both domestically and easy to see him getting full international honours if he continues to develop as he has started.
Arthur Okonkwo (thank you to Nathan Salt from RobRyanRed Podcast for feedback):
Arthur had to be patient to get his opportunity in League Two having made his debut for us against Newcastle’s Under-21s in the EFL Trophy, but now he has the starting role he seems destined to keep it for the rest of the season. While his distribution is not always the most accurate he can kick it so far up the pitch that it’s a great asset to relieve pressure on the backline. His large frame showed itself at Mansfield and Crawley when he made a number of impressive stops and he has arguably been Wrexham’s best player in the games since he came in.
Wrexham were crying out for a young rising star goalkeeper following the misstep to re-sign Ben Foster in the summer and Okonkwo looks a brilliant fit in our bid to win promotion. The challenge to him now will be to become a more vocal leader and presence at the back. The only criticism of him is that he seems a tad on the quiet side when commanding his area.