It was confirmed yesterday that Marcelo Flores has joined Real Oviedo on a season-long loan and the move certainly seems to be the best choice in order to further his development.
The Mexico international, who can play as an attacking midfielder or out wide, has made tremendous progress at Arsenal over the last couple of years.
Flores established himself as a key player for Arsenal’s U23 side in the second half of last season and in truth he didn’t have much more to learn at that level.
It had been hoped that Flores would be involved with the first-team in pre-season, but, despite featuring in the opening friendly against Ipswich Town, he wasn’t selected thereafter.
Missing out on the tour to the United States was a major source of frustration for Flores as it was widely expected that he would be called up.
Arsenal have already lost one hugely talented prospect on a permanent basis this summer, with Omari Hutchinson making a shock switch to Chelsea.
Thankfully, Flores hasn’t followed Hutchinson by leaving permanently, but the choice to send him on loan is the correct one.
Had he remained at Arsenal this season then Flores’ first-team chances would probably have been limited and may have amounted to a few runs outs in cup competitions.
Now he has an opportunity to show what he can do in the Spanish second tier.
—
Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Good move to get minutes this season playing against men. Hopefully he gets the minutes and comes back ready to compete for a position.
Good luck Flores! There’s definitely something special about this lad, this loan will be the real test.
The loan is good for him, though I would have preferred a Championship team, just as ESR at Huddersfield:
I think the EFL is better preparation for life in the EPL than the continent. There might be exceptions though.
Gunnerblog mentioned it could help him qualify for an EU passport
Spain is a good choice. The mexican ownership of the club will surely have played its roll. Its gonna be tough to start in any second devision. But it fits his technicality.