The Arsenal loan army is noticeably smaller following the conclusion of the regular season across the English Football League with as many as 12 players bidding farewell to their respective clubs in the past week.
Tim Akinola will follow suit in the coming days as he suffered heartbreak in the National League play-off final on Saturday afternoon at Wembley Stadium as despite Chesterfield Town twice leading against Notts County, they ultimately lost on penalties to miss out on promotion to League Two.
Meanwhile, Brooke Norton-Cuffy played the full 90 minutes for Coventry City in their goalless draw against Middlesbrough in the first-leg of the Championship play-off semi-final. The two sides meet again on Wednesday night for the right to face either Sunderland or Luton Town at Wembley Stadium.
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But even with fewer Arsenal loanees to track, neither Nicolas Pepe, Pablo Mari, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Runar Alex Runarsson, Marcelo Flores, Ryan Alebiosu or Alex Kirk were in action over the weekend. Although Ovie Ejeheri kept a clean sheet as SJK beat Ilves, Nikolaj Moller started for Den Bosch in their 2-2 draw with Almere and Mika Biereth came off the bench as RKC Waalwijk lost to Utrecht.
With that in mind, below football.london rounds up the big headlines regarding the remaining Arsenal loanees who were in action.
Duo achieve wins
Arthur Okonkwo's experience in Austria goes from strength to strength as he started for Sturm Graz in their 4-1 win over Austria Klagenfurt and Nuno Tavares managed to lose possession four times and earn a yellow card, as per SofaScore, despite only playing 25 minutes of Marseille's win over Angers.
Balogun scores
The goal drought is over for Folarin Balogun. Having gone four games without finding the back of the net for Reims, the striker got back on the scoresheet by breaking the deadlock in the 23rd minute against Lens from the penalty spot. However, despite having a one-man advantage, the visitors fell to a 2-1 loss.
Aside from the goal, it was an eventful outing for Balogun as he thought he had won another penalty to have the chance of making it 2-2. However, the on-field decision was overturned upon a VAR check and the 21-year-old was booked for simulation.
Maitland-Niles suffers second relegation
After 11 seasons, Southampton's stay in the Premier League is over. Needing a mini miracle to avoid the drop at the start of play, a 2-0 defeat was enough to consign the Saints to the Championship and it remains to be seen what this means for Ainsley Maitland-Niles and any hope of a permanent transfer.
The 25-year-old, who has already confirmed his intention to leave Arsenal when his contract expires, didn't have the best of times operating at left-back and was replaced with eight minutes left on the clock. This marks the second time he's suffered relegation from the Premier League having previously experienced it with West Brom in the 2020/21 season.
Cedric Soares was named in the Fulham matchday squad for the fixture at St Mary's but was an unused substitute.
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