It has been a hectic past week for Arsenal's loan army.
What started out as a 17-man strong group when the summer transfer window closed has since decreased to 16 and that number is expected to drop further with an announcement imminent.
This month has already seen central defender Harry Clarke recalled from his spell at Ross County only to return to Scotland and join Hibernian on loan until the end of next season.
Meanwhile, Jordi Osei-Tutu, Jonathan Dinzeyi and Nikolaj Moller have all returned to north London after spending the first half of the season with Nottingham Forest, Carlisle United and Viktoria Koln respectively.
In fact, the latter was spotted in a first-team training session at London Colney last week prior to the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool.
Despite making 13 appearances and scoring three goals in all competitions during his time in Germany, it's understood that Moller's reintegration into the under-23s squad is the most likely scenario for the remainder of the campaign.
Another player to have been recalled by Arsenal is Miguel Azeez.
As reported by football.london last week, the Gunners opted to terminate the midfielder's deal with Portsmouth due to his lack of game time, but this is yet to be announced by the League One side.
With that said, Pompey manager Danny Cowley expects confirmation of Azeez returning to his parent club imminently.
"I think we are waiting for Arsenal on that so I don’t think I can speak about that at the moment," he told BBC Radio Solent. "It is always for the two clubs to decide when they are going to announce it and I don’t think it suits Arsenal at the moment."
The latest members of the Arsenal loan army have caused quite a stir in the wake of Sunday's North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur being called off with the Gunners having fewer than the required number of players available for the match (13 outfield players and one goalkeeper).
But instead of being named on the bench just to make up the numbers, Folarin Balogun made his Middlesbrough debut against Reading at the weekend as he began a spell that will be beneficial for his development.
Ironically, Ainsley Maitland-Niles could have been an option to solve Arsenal's current midfield crisis but he's being ignored in that position at AS Roma so far.
In his two games under Jose Mourinho, he's operated at right-back but after suffering defeat on his Roma debut against Juventus last weekend, the 24-year-old tasted victory for the first time with his new club on Sunday in a 1-0 win over Cagliari.
Elsewhere across Europe, Reiss Nelson started Feyenoord's 1-0 home defeat against Vitesse and Alex Runarsson missed out on making a 10th appearance for Belgian side OH Leuven as their league game against Mechelen was postponed.
William Saliba and Matteo Guendouzi both played 90 minutes of Marseille's 1-1 draw at home to Lille on Sunday night, but it's events off the pitch that is of great interest to Arsenal fans.
Amid reports that the Ligue 1 outfit have been handed a two-transfer window ban as punishment by FIFA in relation to an investigation surrounding Pape Gueye, this will affect the Gunners duo.
If the ban stands and comes into play from the summer, then as Marseille wouldn't be able to register new players Saliba will certainly return to Arsenal upon the end of his loan spell as there's no agreement in place for a permanent transfer.
However, it's a little different for his compatriot as football.london understands that the France international will join Marseille permanently for €11million (£9.5million) in the summer - but only as long as the club avoid relegation from Ligue 1 this season.
For clarity on if Marseille would be able to register Guendouzi whilst under a transfer embargo, Chelsea can provide some as despite their transfer ban in the summer of 2019 they were still permitted to sign Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid because he was still registered to the club until the end of June following his loan spell.
Hector Bellerin didn't feature as Real Betis overcame Sevilla in a Copa Del Rey fixture that resumed behind closed doors on Sunday after it was suspended the night before after an object thrown from the stands hit Joan Jordan, moments before half-time.
Dinos Mavropanos played 82 minutes of Stuttgart's 2-0 home loss against RB Leipzig, whilst Lucas Torreira is yet to take to the field with Fiorentina not in action until Monday night.
The Uruguay international could actually help his parent club seal a major transfer this month as reports from Italy claim he has been used as a makeweight in a €60million (£50million) offer for Dusan Vlahovic.
As well as some first-team players using their loan spells to put themselves in the shop window for potential buyers ahead of the summer transfer window, a number of Arsenal's most promising players have been sent out on loan to gain valuable experience either around Europe or in the lower leagues in England.
Therefore, football.london takes a look at how the remainder of Arsenal's loanees fared over the weekend.
Daniel Ballard is still on the road to recovery following successful knee surgery last month so missed Millwall's 1-0 home defeat by Forest and with Blackpool's trip to Barnsley postponed, it's now 15 games since Tyreece John-Jules last made an appearance.
In League One, Matt Smith played the entire match as Doncaster Rovers lost at home to Wigan Athletic and in the Vanarama National League South, Tom Smith missed out as Welling United drew 0-0 with Chelmsford.
Deyan Iliev is spending the season in Slovakia with SKF Sered and they're currently in winter break mode, playing friendlies ahead of the league campaign resuming next month.
